


Don't Befriend the Inmates

by RainbowHoodGirl



Series: Høuse øf Jøshler [1]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Angst, Arson, Car Accidents, Depression, Fake You Out, Fighting, Heathens, Jail, M/M, Prison, Prison AU, Suicidal Attempts, Violence, Wrote this at 3am, based off the interview, currently being edited, prison guard!josh, prisoner!tyler, slow plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-21 13:51:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7389535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowHoodGirl/pseuds/RainbowHoodGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"No, how we really met....so Josh and I were in prison."</p><p>"I was a guard though."</p><p>Josh is a guard at a state prison. He wonders how such an innocent looking person like Tyler ended up at a hellhole like this.<br/>He is surprised though, when Tyler starts talking to the guard with faded pink hair and no respect for the inmates.</p><p>STILL ACTIVE. JUST SLACKING.</p><p>This is currently under MAJOR story editing/reconstruction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Vessel

**Author's Note:**

> I literally started writing this a 3am when the idea popped in my head. I was thinking about Heathens of course. 
> 
> Edit: As I reread this story a year later, I realized it was incredibly cringy so I'm currently rewriting it to make it sound better and more developed. Please don't hate it too much just yet. 
> 
> Current chapter reedited completely: first half of Chapter 1

The first advice given to all new criminals arriving at the concrete representation of hell on earth, whether they were wrongly accused or guilty without a spitting doubt, was to stay on an officers' good side. Cooperate, call them "sir" to please, or else get the crap beaten out of you daily for not lining outside of your cells quick enough for morning and evening roll call.

Depending on the point of view, inmates interpreted guards as the the most confusing humans in a prison; more so than their fellow cellmates. Inmates were quite simple; mean ones were angry because their dominant reputation was critical to establish during their life sentences; quiet ones knew they couldn't survive so their paranoia of being gang jumped grew them a second pair of eyes on the back of their head; the subtle friendly ones could already handle themselves in stressful situations, so their relaxed attitudes kept them unharmed; and the tortured-looking reserved ones even made the meanest inmates a bit uneasy, yet seen as easy targets to take advantage of.

From a guards' perspective, all inmates were the same evil, tortured minds never again fit to rejoin society. So, it didn't matter how they were treated now. They all deserved what they received.

A guard, to a guard, was just that; A federal worker hired to keep order and peace within a confinement to maintain public safety. They had a purpose, a mission, unlike the criminals who threw away their life to end up caged like a vicious animal.

Occasionally, a lone guard would find himself seeking peace from the diverse world above. During his breaks, he would wander below the prison in its eerie basement off limits to others, whistling while gently swinging his baton from his wrist strap.

Joshua Dun had only been working at the prison for a couple years and already wondered how he could ever live without a career controlling safety from the source of danger. Though sometimes, usually after near death encounters with convicts, he questioned what influenced him to risk his life on a daily basis.

At least the dreary and cool atmosphere of the underground hallways, with the dripping of water and the creaking of rusty piping, seemed to clear his mind from the questions he constantly interrogated himself with.

"Dun!"

Josh jumped at the sound of his last name as it echoed like ripples along the concrete walls. He turned around sharply, readying his baton in an instant of protective reflex, only to immediately bash the source of the voice in its face.

The figure stumbled back, hunching over to cover its nose, groaning in annoyance.

"Dammit Josh! Ugh-- You god-dammed spooked bastard."

Josh lowered his weapon to rush over to the guard, laying a apologetic hand on his shoulder as he immediately recognized Brendon. "Sorry, sorry." he sighed out. "But Jesus Christ you really scared me this time."

"Third time this month, Josh." Brendon straightened himself up to shake three fingers in Josh's face. "What's your problem?"

"It's your fault dude. You know my problems."

"Yeah but just last week you kicked Awsten when he tried to hug you in the lunchroom. Poor guy still can't walk without limping."

"Well that fucking riot last month put me all on edge. I never saw so many inmates pulling out shanks during roll call."

Brendon snorted. "Twigs and sporks carved into pointy things won't kill us. Heck, we have guns, batons, and tasers to use against those idiots. I thought by now you'd be used to it."

Josh clenched his jaw and shook his head, turning around to walk back to the corridor stairs. It was his second year as a correctional officer, practically fresh out of training, and yes, all staff members experienced all sorts of hostile incidents on a regular basis. Despite that, he felt like it would be a long time before he could adapt completely.

Brendon quickly scrambled over to catch up with him. "Hey Josh don't be like that. I understand. I really do. Don't act like a dick, because you know you're not one. Well, I don't think you're one―"

Brendon stumbled to the side after Josh cut him off with a playful shove in the shoulder. The guard returned the gesture with an elbow in Josh's ribs, both letting out laughs of amusement as they walked back.

"We're getting a new shipment today." Brendon said after they fell silent on their walk back upstairs, their boots thumping loudly on the metal flooring.

"From where?"

"Mostly from Columbus. Twenty-five. Rapists, armed robbers, murderers. The usual." Brendon knew all the facts since he'd been working at the prison for nearly a decade. He was one of the most senior officers who acted like he was raised from birth here; which Josh would immediately believe if he was told that.

He inwardly grimaced at the thought of more corrupted souls joining the already overflowing ranks of inmates. "Good. Maybe some of the rehabilitation programs will actually work to get more out of here."

Brendon instantly scoffed. "Are you hearing yourself josh? There's no help for any of them at this point. Now come on." He giddily slapped Josh's back and almost skipped ahead of him to change the topic. "The Warden called a meeting not too long ago. Surprised you didn't hear the announcement with how hypervigilant your ass is!"

"You were scared during the riot too!"

"Whatever you want to believe, Joshy boy."

 

♢     ♢     ♢

 

After the Warden's meeting with the prison guards was dismissed, groups of them were sent to monitor the arrival of the newest inmates into the penitentiary . It was sometimes an uneasy feeling when all the new heathens were led in by a swarm of guards; men who could snap at any moment and turn the place into a living hell.

Out of nerves, Josh tugged at his earrings. He quickly retreated his hand though when he realized how weak that might have looked to anyone who saw him. Brendon cast a glance at Josh beside him, but he kept his mouth shut.

Some of the Cert Team members stood watch while the inmates shuffled in. All of the men were dressed in a jumble of orange scrubs, making it hard to distinguish one man from the next—except for one man who caught Josh's eyes. He was much thinner and had a more lithe looking frame than the stocky builds of the other men that trailed in sync around him. He looked to be in his late twenties, not having the appearance of someone that belonged in a prison. Josh could notice that he had wary and tired eyes; his expression blank.

Pairings of guards ushered the inmates into each emptied out cell, leaving the thin man to be the last one directed anywhere.

"Josh! Brendon!" Another higher ranking guard called from overseeing the procedure. "Take the last one to holding cell B. We don't have enough room down here."

The two nodded and stalked off towards the man, each of them grabbing hold of each his wrists as they led him in the direction they were ordered. Josh used his free arm to keep his hand over the club hanging at his side. The man kept his head down as they walked in silence, clearly not happy with the way his life had turned out. He walked like an empty vessel with no purpose anymore. Josh couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for him.

After a while of passing cells, Josh glanced down at the inmate's wrists he was gripping. Below his own fingers, he could see some black lines engraved on his skin. Josh shifted his fingers so that he could get a better look, intrigued with the tattoo he had discovered that circled around the other's wrist. He furrowed his eyebrows before he looked back up over the man's shoulders as they neared the new holding cell.

Brendon took a set of keys from his side to release the handcuffs, then roughly shoving the man into the cell. The man let out a grunt as he regained his balance at the sudden shove into the small enclosure. Josh took hold of the door and slid it shut with a sickening click, making sure it was fastened correctly.

He looked up at the man that was now sitting hunched over on the bed, hands clasped together tightly. Josh took a step back from the cell, thinking of all the reasons why this man could possibly be sentenced to prison. He didn't realize he was staring until Brendon's voice snapped him out of it.

"Josh!"

Josh tore his gaze away quickly, meeting the questioning eyes of Brendon who now seemed to smirk. Before Brendon could utter a word, Josh was stalking past him, feeling slightly embarrassed at his demeanor.

Brendon caught back up with him, starting to grow this stupid smile on his face. "I saw the papers with the list of names of all the new convicts at the meeting earlier," He began. Josh was relieved at what he thought was a change of topic; that is until Brendon rested a hand on his shoulder to mutter something into his ear.

"His name is Tyler Joseph if you're wondering, Josh."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to subscribe if you enjoyed this,  
> and future chapters will be uploaded as soon as I finish 'em up


	2. Behind Your Pride

  _Tyler Joseph._

 

That had a nice ring to it.

It had been a few hours since the inmate arrival and the guards went on performing their usual tasks of the day; which was not much other than standing guard or patrolling the depressing place. Josh was standing stiffly at the end of the cell block on the balcony, overseeing the double sided line of cells with orange blurs in each one. This was the only time he actually felt commanding and invincible during his hours of duty. Each man was caged below him while he stood tall with a baton and a taser at his side. But the feeling evaporated when the bell beeped once loudly, followed by the harsh clinging of opening cell blocks as the inmates trailed out. A guard yelled out, "Shower time, maggots!" And Josh was pulled back into a state of alertness.

He had clearly been eyeing the cell Tyler was in for almost the whole time, wanting to actually see what his face looked like clearly since he kept it lowered earlier. But as the prisoners walked out of the clearing to the showers, Josh immediately noticed Tyler had not come out yet. Strangely enough, the other guards had noticed too.

He really wished Brendon was here.....

"Check the cells!" One guard ordered and already Josh was padding down the stairs, pretending to actively check the other cells, but his main focus was on the last one. Three other guards trailed lazily behind him as they did the same. As Josh approached the last cell, he noticed the orange figure still hunched over on the bed. He stopped at the entrance and peered in more closely to see the miserable Tyler, face still not that visible.

Composing himself with a superior act, Josh harshly banged on the metal rails with his club. It made Tyler flinch in surprise, but not doing much else to get him moving.

Irritated, Josh snapped. "Hey you! Get outta there, it's shower time!"

"Why should I."

Josh stared as he first heard the man's voice, coming out rigid but sounding as more of a challenge than an question.

Josh still couldn't see Tyler's face.

That's when he said what he hoped he didn't have to say.

"Because I said so, you smell, and there are three other guards behind me. Now get your ass up and get to the showers!"

Tyler still kept his head down, mumbling, "What gives you the right to talk to me like that?"

Josh's expression darkened. He still couldn't see Tyler's face.

"You people have beaten down others in your life, so you can only expect the same treatment from us!" Josh lashed out.

That's when he got the reaction he was waiting for.

 

Tyler couldn't take it anymore. He didn't belong here. He didn't deserve to be treated like an animal by someone that thought they were so much better than him. He clenched his fists one more time before he shot up onto his feet to challenge the guard. "I don't give a fucking sh—" He stopped himself when his eyes landed on the guard, half expecting an ugly middle-aged man to be the source of the demands. He never expected it to be from a guard in his late twenties, with pink ruffled hair over shorter dark hair, with stretched out earlobes and mocha eyes. Tyler stood there with another one of his blank expressions, though his eyes had widened. The voice of the guard snapped him out of it.

"What do you think you're looking at? Go!" The guard shouted, clearly impatient.

Tyler nodded slowly in defeat, lowering his head once more as he left his cell. Trying to get the image of the guard out of his mind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyy hope you liked it.
> 
> Subscribe for more updates


	3. Tattoos For Thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this is a really short chapter but thanks for coming back.

Brendon had appeared at Josh's side shortly after the whole ordeal. Josh was still trying to compose himself after Tyler's behavior, leaving him bothered by it for the rest of the day.

The guard casually stood beside him and Josh acknowledged him with a quick nod. Oh great. He noticed that Brendon had another one of his weird smirks on his face again, but he continued to look forward as he monitored the convicts filing into the showers. Tyler was among them, obviously uncomfortable with proceeding to undress. Brendon was making an effort to try to chuckle inwardly, but he was doing a pretty bad job at it.

"What's so funny?" Josh quirked an eyebrow.

Brendon regained himself. "Was _Mr. Tyler_   the one giving you trouble today?"

"Yeah." Was all Josh said.

"Well then what happened?" Brendon chuckled out again, pressing for information.

"He refused to get out and shower."

"How'd you finally get him to go?"  The other guard still had a smile on his face, thinking the whole thing was oh so amusing.

Josh took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, I snapped at him a couple times before he finally got up. It looked like he was about to take a swing at me, but then he just gave up." Now that he described it out loud, it did sound kind of ridiculous, making him smile a little as he recalled that dazed look on Tyler's face.

Brendon seemed to read his mind. "Yeah, the guards were just telling me how as soon as he saw you, he practically melted and gave in." He ended with a laugh.

"Shut it." Josh retorted, but he couldn't even get his own smile to disappear.

"Honestly Josh," Brendon started. "It's quite cute. I know guards aren't supposed to converse with the inmates, but you should still try to start up a chat with him."

"And why do you think I should do that?"

Brendon was quick to answer. "Don't you think everyone can notice you staring at his—" He stopped abruptly, clearing his throat dramatically.

Josh immediately snapped up, not even realizing he had been leaning against the railing and had watched Tyler slip out of his orange scrubs, disappearing into the shower stalls.

"Tattoos." Josh finished quickly, but he knew far too well that wasn't what Brendon was going to say. His face reddened and he recoiled back, Brendon erupting in laughter.

"Plus," He started back up again, wiping a tear away. "Aren't you curious as of why he ended up here? Just look at him."

Brendon pointed his finger in the direction of one of the shower stalls, signifying the head of the Joseph guy who was looking around shyly as bodies bumped into him around the shower spigots. 

"He's a nervous wreck, Josh."

Josh didn't say anything, though he _had_ wondered how such an innocent looking bean like Tyler ended up at a hellhole like this the moment he saw him. Brendon didn't need an answer to that anyways.

"Don't let anyone else get suspicious though, Josh." He patted Josh on the back before he turned to leave. "And for God's sake stop staring you creep!"

Josh slapped his arm away.

He was taking the night shift tomorrow evening anyway. He would walk by Tyler's cell then, and maybe get some more information from the polar opposite of a type of man that would be found at a prison.


	4. A Shade Of Pink, He Said

 

That was easier said than done.

The lights were dimmed for the night as Josh made his patrol down some of the many hallways of the prison. He was heading to his post to take over position for one guard who had been there a few hours longer than him. He had been anticipating it ever since he was informed he would be standing in guarding the same cell block Tyler was in.

A depressed and troubled Tyler, that is.

He was rewinding in his mind what he would say to him, deciding that he should just fuck it and walk by the cell with a quick glance at the man. He wasn't even supposed to talk to the inmates anyway unless they were stirring up trouble.

He approached the guard on duty, nodding to each other as Josh took his place. It was kind of creepy at the end of the cell block. He could hear the occasional shifting and snoring of the inmates in their cells as his gaze traveled to the one at the very end. Was Tyler sleeping? Or still just hunched over miserably on his bed, deep in thought?

What was he thinking about?

Josh shook his head to try and calm himself, nerves eating away at his stomach yet again. It was either because he knew he was the only one guarding the area, or the fact that he was going to approach Tyler soon. Or maybe now.

He began to walk slowly down the line of cells, listening to his own footsteps as they made contact with the cold floors. He brought a hand to his head to shift aside some of his pink hair, glancing at the resting orange figures in the gloom.

When he finally came to the last cell, he saw that Tyler was still sitting at the edge of his hanging bed rim. Only now, a hint of serenity had made him look more at peace with himself. Josh also noticed that some old papers had been attached to the brick wall behind the inmate, images of all sorts drawn on them with messy charcoal.

"Hi." Josh had stopped in front of Tyler's cell, observing the pictures, when a timid voice had brought his attention back down to the guy in orange. Tyler was looking at him with tired eyes.

"Salutations."

Tyler looked at him like he had just spoken another language. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Josh found it amusing, using that word just so he could get a new expression from Tyler. But he sighed anyway. "It means hello, weirdo." He teased, now looking at Tyler with bright eyes. Tyler just nodded and looked back down.

Well, that didn't go as planned.

Josh turned to go, but a sudden voice made him turn around again with a slightly baffled expression. "What's your name?"

Josh was honestly quite shocked with Tyler's new attempt at a conversation. He met his eyes again as he stepped closer to the cell gate.

"Josh." He said, smiling.

"I'm Tyler."

"Yeah, I know. You're one of the noobs that arrived yesterday." He responded, reaching out a hand to grasp the metal bars so he could lean against the door that separated them. "How are you enjoying your stay?"

"I hate it−" Tyler retorted, though he stopped himself for some reason, hesitating and biting his lip before he continued. "That is....until your pink head appeared at my cell yesterday demanding I take a shower with the other psychopaths."

Josh could feel a smile rise on his lips, knowing his face might have reddened too. His heart was pounding in his chest at Tyler's words.

"Oh? So you're calling yourself a psychopath, Tyler?"

"No, I'm calling _you_ a psychopath, Josh."

He had to admit, he liked the way his name sounded on Tyler's lips. Josh chuckled. "Aren't we all." He shifted. "So, what are ya in for?"

Tyler thought, tearing his gaze away from Josh to stare at the wall in front of him. "Arson." He said simply.

"Arson?" Josh questioned. He waited for Tyler to explain, but he didn't. "That's it?"

Tyler nodded slowly.

"Alright." Josh didn't feel like he should push any more questions. When they both fell silent, Josh decided that was all he was going to try to get out of Tyler for now. "Well, good luck fresh meat!" Josh turned, beginning to leave again.

"I like your hair!" Tyler blurted out suddenly.

Josh turned around once again, he couldn't suppress another smile. "Ah, thank you. I like your...." He thought. He really couldn't think of something special to compliment Tyler for, except for one thing. "....tattoos."

Tyler looked at him, then down to his wrist as he touched the black ink on his skin. "The one on my wrist?"

"On your arm and chest."

Tyler looked creeped out. "How do you know about those ones?"

"There's not much privacy in a prison, Tyler." He stood there for a second, not really caring of how creepy he just sounded, just looking at the guy through the bars. Tyler's face had turned a pinkish red as he stared back down at his wrist. He decided to leave him at that, turning around to make his way out of the cell block. Josh was still smiling by the time he left, chuckling under his breath at their conversation as he carried on with his job.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be sure to sub :) and comments are always appreciated cause I want to know what you guys think of this so far


	5. Even When He Doubts You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos guys!
> 
> Oh my gosh I'm going to the concert in like 2 weeks im so excited

Tyler stared down at his wrist again, running his fingers along the black lines that had been engraved onto his skin long before his whole life had crumbled. He looked at the fabric that covered his tanned arms; orange like the flames that licked up the wood a few months prior.

It seemed a little quick to look forward to something so new here, but he waited for Josh. The guard had made a habit of passing by his cell every so often these past few days. And with each time, it was the same routine. Josh would slow his pace outside the cell, smile and nod at him, then look at any new drawing Tyler had hung up on the wall behind him before he left again. Tyler always nodded back, but he didn't smile. No words were exchanged, but that was fine for now. He was a bit disappointed though because he knew he himself wasn't good at starting conversations.

Maybe pink-haired Josh should be the one to speak the first word. After all, the guard made himself look so unique that anyone would think he would be a pure conversationalist. So it left Tyler's heart sink a bit when Josh would turn to leave after just giving him a smile and nod; _that damn crinkly smile_ that made his eyes disappear into slits. And he didn't know exactly why.

So Tyler continued to wait on his bed rim, hoping this time would be different. He tapped his foot on the ground and scratched his hand out of impatience; Josh was late. He perked up though when he heard the rhythmic sound of footsteps approaching. As they grew near, Tyler noticed that they had a different pattern than the ones he was familiar with. He straightened up and gazed out from behind the bars, expecting to see Josh's pink hair, but another face greeted him.

"Hey man!"

Tyler immediately recognized the voice that had called Josh's name after the two guards had led him into his cell several days ago. The guard was standing outside of his cell, in _Josh's_ place.

Tyler just looked up at the man with slight annoyance. He didn't want to talk to anyone except _Josh_. No other guards needed to hear his voice or get his respect but _Josh_.

Now, this new guard was looking down at him with a smile, but it couldn't compare to the other smile that silently greeted him occasionally. He seemed amused with Tyler's stubbornness to talk. "I'm Brendon." He continued.

Tyler looked down without a word, hoping the guard would get the hint and leave soon.

"You waiting for Josh?"

Tyler's face shot up at the words. He looked up at the guard, wondering how he knew he was expecting Josh. A light reflected in Brendon's eyes as he figured out what interested Tyler at this point. He let out a light chuckle. "Josh took the day off. He asked me to check in on you while I patrolled this way. Nice to officially meet you Tyler."

"You shoved me into this cell five days ago." Tyler bluntly reminded him, remembering the guard not being too friendly then.

Brendon shrugged. "I know. Sorry about that. I just didn't expect Josh to grow so fond of you in five days."

Tyler felt his face heat up, quickly looking back down so he didn't have to see the wide smile that spread onto the guard's face.

"Funny how things work out, huh?" Brendon huffed out before doing a quick nod up, not a nod down like Josh does, and striding out of the cell block to carry on with his job.

Disappointed, Tyler reached to grab a piece of paper from the stash under his bed and a cylindrical piece of charcoal he kept hidden. He was almost out of paper, and the charcoal had been worn down to a stump.

He quickly started scribbling down the burst of words that formed in his mind, coming together as lyrics to a melody. Tyler hated this place and going out to mill around the other inmates, but Josh was the only person here that gave him the motivation to push through the day. Just the fact that a person here acknowledged him as a civil human being was comforting, despite it being in a prison.

What if Josh would forget about him?

Tyler thought about the plastic sporks they gave out at lunch. If Josh didn't visit him after today, what was even the point of continuing on here? He could always manage to sneak one of those white utensils into the cell like he did with the charcoal and papers. The ends were dull, but they could always do something. He wouldn't let the prison have him any longer if the one comforting thing in his life wouldn't come anymore to say hello.

 

♢     ♢     ♢

 

It had been a week until Josh came back to the prison.

He didn't mean for a single day to turn into seven; it just happened. He took Saturday off as a personal day to practice drumming, then things gradually happened and the next thing he knew, he was going on a last minute trip with his friends, partying, getting food poisoning the next day, and resting the day after. The entire time, he hadn't really thought about Tyler much. He assumed the inmate was getting on fine without him, but he wondered why he had this tugging feeling in his gut to go back.

So he did, that is as soon as he was sure he was fine and wouldn't throw up anymore. Brendon welcomed him back that Saturday at the prison and insisted Josh tell him all about his break.

During their half-hour chat at lunch, Josh was struggling to not ask him anything about Tyler. He hadn't been stationed to guard that cell block until later that night as another night shift. Josh decided to take the long shift as overtime just so he could check up on Tyler with his usual smile and nod.

The cell block had a different atmosphere that night as Josh was nearing the corner that opened up to the long line of cells. There was none of the usual shifting and snoring of the other inmates, but rather a soft harmonic sound coming from further down. The husky brutes in each cell seemed to be listening intently to the light voice that rose into the air.

Josh furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity as he slowly paced down the hallway, occasionally casting a glance at each inmate while he was careful not to make his footsteps be heard as he walked. They were all listening.

Josh began to translate what the voice was uttering. It was Tyler.

 

_cared of my own image, scared of my own immaturity,_   
_Scared of my own ceiling, scared I'll die of uncertainty,_   
_Fear might be the death of me, fear leads to anxiety,_   
_Don't know what's inside of me._

_Don't forget about me,_   
_Don't forget about me,_   
_Even when I doubt you,_   
_I'm no good without you, no, no_

 

Josh was now stopped near Tyler's cell, hands resting in his pockets as he listened out of sight. He was amazed at his voice and the fact that the other inmates were listening, unbeknownst to Tyler.

  
   
 _Temperature is dropping, temperature is dropping,_  
 _I'm not sure if I can see this ever stopping,_  
 _Shaking hands with the dark parts of my thoughts, no,_  
 _You are all that I've got, no._  
  
 _Don't forget about me,_  
 _Don't forget about me,_  
 _Even when I doubt you,_  
 _I'm no good without you, no, no, no, no, no_  
  
 _Gnawing on the bishops, claw our way up their system,_  
 _Repeating simple phrases, someone holy insisted,_  
 _I want the markings made on my skin,_  
 _To mean something to me again,_  
 _Hope you haven't left without me._  
 _Hope you haven't left without me, please._  
 

Tyler stopped. Josh's heart was pounding as the night grew still yet again. The convict's shifted around him as the silence stretched on, settling in for sleep.

He cautiously peered over the blind spot that separated each cell to see Tyler sitting lonely on the side of his bed, playing with a spork in his hands. He was looking down solemnly at the white plastic, bending the spikes in his fingertips.

Josh stepped out so that Tyler could see him. He hesitated for a moment before uttering softly. " I didn't know you could sing."

Tyler jumped at his voice, head turning quickly as he met Josh's gaze. His eyes widened. Was that relief he saw?

"Josh." Tyler responded, still in mild shock. "You're back." He rasped.

"Of course."

"Where were you?" Tyler questioned.

Josh bit his lip as he tried to hold back his smile. Had Tyler _missed_ him? "Why are you suddenly curious?" Josh answered with another question. "Were you worried about my pink little head?" He teased.

 

 

"No, umm....I mean...I wasn't–" Tyler fumbled with his words as he cracked his fingers with the spork still in his grasp. Josh looked on with amusement and decided to cut him off.

"I like your singing."

Tyler looked up. "Thank you." His voice was genuine.

Josh smiled once again. "Hey, umm," He began, scratching the back of his head where his pink hair tangled in his fingers. He needed to make this right. "I wanted to.....apologize, for how I treated you that one day."

Tyler's mouth slightly parted open as if he was going to say something, but then just settled on muttering "D–don't worry about it, Josh."

Josh nodded. "Glad to hear it." He didn't know what else to say since an awkward silence passed over between the two of them. There wasn't really anything more to say. Josh took a step back and turned to leave again, glad to hear the timid voice behind him again.

"I'll see ya."

Josh left the cell, smiling for the second time after sharing words with Tyler. He just wished that wouldn't be the only thing they shared. "See ya." He hummed, rewinding Tyler's harmonic doubts about him in his mind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sub and comment what you think of this so far cause like I'm really pumped to finish up future chapters ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ


	6. Having The Bleeding Lines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check some of the new tags incase you are sensitive to that, though there's not much of it. 
> 
> One more week until the concert *raises hands in excitement*

"Josh you're never going to believe it!"

Brendon pulled Josh aside by the arm as they walked out of the prison, their shifts ending for the day. Josh was extremely tired the next morning after working through the night the day before. He couldn't think clearly at this point and he had barely slept, the song Tyler had sung was still stuck in his head. He just wanted to go home, but Brendon wasn't going to let him until he shared his news.

The guard tugged Josh through the parking lot near his old car and faced him with excited eyes. "The Warden talked with me and a few others today and he confirmed we're eligible to become cert guards!"

Josh responded with a wide smile. Brendon never talked about becoming part of the emergency response team, but it was great news. "Since when did you want to become a cert guard?"

"Ever since I became a prison guard, genius!"

Josh let out a laugh, smacking his friend on the shoulder. "That's great news, man!"

"I'll still see you around, just not in the usual places. It's gong to be interesting dealing with the problematic guys." Brendon leaned more against his car after giving Josh a nudge in his arm. "But hey, at least you'll still have Tyler."

"Stop that." Josh retorted with his best annoyed face, but he still smirked.

As Brendon nodded a goodbye and got in the drivers side of his car, Josh turned his head to look back at the gloomy prison behind him. The security lights beamed from the towers near the walls, lighting up the whole area to reveal any inmates trying to escape. Tyler was in there somewhere, probably humming another song in the dark.

"Did you already say goodnight to your boyfriend?" Brendon teased from the car.

"He's not my-"

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that Josh." He piped up as he started his car and waved a halfhearted goodbye to Josh, leaving him standing in the partially deserted parking lot. Apart from the sound of Brendon's car driving away, Josh thought he could hear the sweet singing.

 

♢ ♢ ♢

 

At least Tyler made an effort to cooperate now with the daily routines since Josh was gone that week. Brendon had reported that even though he still looked miserable being here, he willingly came out of his cell during free times such as eating breaks, workouts, or even showering. But what Brendon couldn't explain was the weird drawings that continued to line Tyler's wall, describing them as "creepier than his roommate's internet history", earning a laugh from Josh as he admired Tyler's persistence to sneak in papers and charcoal into his cell.

It was the hour all the inmates were let out of their cells to lunch and Josh kept his distance between him and Tyler, deciding it would be best to stay clear of him as much as possible during these hours.

It hurt him though when he saw Tyler step out of his cell, who had glanced quickly at Josh several yards away amongst the other guards with weary eyes before retreating his gaze back down to the floor. He felt a twist inside as he watched him be swallowed into the sea of orange inmates who walked out of the block to the lunch hall. Knowing Tyler, he ate alone.

Arson. _Arson?_

He was snapped out of his thoughts when another guard approached the guys Josh was standing with. "You five are in the lunch hall today." They all nodded and proceeded towards the lunch hall.

Tyler was sitting at one of the tables, his back facing Josh through the burly forms of the other convicts milling around with trays of food. This guy definitely kept to himself at any breaks out of his cell.

As the other guards split up in different directions, Josh paced himself as he slowly walked around the perimeter of the walls. He slid his gaze around the groups of chattering inmates, careful to keep Tyler in the corner of his eye. Eventually, he was standing right beside the man, just looking down at him until the convict finally noticed him.

"Hey Tyler."

Tyler looked up at him. "Hey Josh."

It looked like he hadn't slept in days. He had bags under his eyes and was hunched over, Josh only then realizing he bared some old scratches on his left cheek. His left fist was clenched while the other held a spork over a pathetic tray of food. Weight loss was obvious.

Josh looked at Tyler and then back down at the food. "Do you always eat that much?" He gestured towards the tray with a worried expression. Was he purposely starving himself?

Tyler dropped his gaze and played with the spork for a few seconds. "I never ate a lot anyway."

"You look thin."

Tyler continued to stare blankly at the food in front of him; he hadn't even touched it.

"You need to eat Tyler." Josh pressed. "Please."

Tyler slowly moved his utensil down to the food, taking his time to begin eating just to spite Josh. It was like trying to get a child to eat their vegetables. He finally began to lift the food into his mouth and Josh let out a quiet breath of relief.

He was just about to leave Tyler to himself when he saw some redness under Tyler's left wrist which was closest to him. Josh turned back to eye it more carefully until he made out scratches beneath his orange sleeve. No wonder he had his fist clenched.

Without hesitation, Josh reached down to touch Tyler's hand and flip it over slowly, pushing aside the sleeve and to clearly see multiple cuts through his wrist. Tyler didn't reject the contact, still eating slowly even when Josh dragged his horrified gaze at him. "Tyler."

Tyler didn't say a word. He still focused on eating as if Josh wasn't even there. "Tyler what's wrong?" Josh kept his fingertips on the dried cuts like they were made just a few days ago. Josh's hand began to tremble when he wasn't responding at all. Several seconds went by until Josh sighed in defeat and lifted his hand away, still eyeing Tyler with a worried gaze.

"I thought you weren't coming back." The inmate's tired voice eventually rasped out.

Josh looked at him. He bit his own lip, guilt creeping over him about the idea of him just leaving suddenly for a week, but he didn't think Tyler had been bothered by it. "I'm sorry." This was the second time he apologized to Tyler. Was he the source of Tyler's harm?

Tyler didn't seem to hear, still focused down at his tray with his head cocked and resting to his side as he poked at the food.

"I was charged with five years for second degree arson if you were curious."

Josh was starting to get use to Tyler's sudden bursts of topics, but this change of topic threw him off guard. His mind raced with questions and wants for more information. If he was charged with only second degree, it meant the damage wasn't as malicious as it was planned out.

Josh looked around to see if any other guards were staring until he took a step closer to Tyler at the table. Tyler flinched at first but he soon relaxed.

"What did you set fire to?"

Tyler took a breath. "A tree house." In a quieter voice, he breathed out " _My_  tree house."

"Why?"

The inmate straightened up, crossing his arms to rest on the table as he pushed away his tray of half-eaten food. he shrugged. "I....heard it from a song I liked."

"I meant can you evaluate on why you did it?"

Tyler went silent again. Josh was beginning to think he was pressing him for too much, but maybe he just really needed to talk about it to relieve him of his reserved behavior.

".....Attempted murder?" He immediately regretted the question as soon as it flew out of his moth, but he couldn't take it back. Tyler looked up at him like Josh had just discovered the answer to everything. His eyes clouded in sadness that Josh would come up with that assumption, though he looked as if he was finally about to tell him everything.

"It's not what you think. I didn't know some of my friends were hanging up there. I planned on taking just myself. I found a lighter and some gasoline to make it spread faster as I put it on the base of the tree. I was gong to climb up there and just sit there until the flames blocked me up there, but of course I didn't think about how fast it would spread across the damn thing." He took a breath. "Next thing I new my friends were screaming and.....I didn't know what to do so, I panicked and just ran. Ran away from my troubles." Tyler shifted. "The fire spread onto a few houses. There were witnesses nearby that described it like I really meant to hurt _them_."

"Did your friends....?"

"No, they jumped out in time with a few broken bones but.....I think I killed a bit of myself. " Tyler moved his right hand and looked down at it as he rubbed his fingers together. "I think I can still smell the gas on my hands and I just want it to go away."

The pink-haired guard looked on with full understanding; why Tyler had seemed more troubled than before. He wanted to just reach down and hug the man to give him comfort, but that would cause too much trouble than Josh wanted to imagine. So he just stood there, unsure of what to say.

"Thank you for telling me."

"Thank you for listening, Josh."

All he could do now was leave Tyler since the inmates would be directed back soon. Josh immediately started stalking down the cell block until he reached Tyler's empty cell and stepped in. It felt horrible inside.

He looked around for what he was searching for, seeing the black and white drawings that plastered his bedside wall. He finally caught a glimpse at the white plastic that laid behind the flat pillow on his bed.

Josh reached and picked up the spork, wiping off the blood with is sleeve and hiding it within his hand as he stepped out of the cell.

"Josh?"

Josh nearly collided into a cert guard that stood right outside of the cell. The emergency response man was hidden head to toe in fabricated armor so his face wasn't even shown.

"Sorry, I was just checking the cells." Josh tried to explain, about to push past him until the guard raised his visor and Brendon's worried face was shown. He was wearing his new uniform.

"What are you doing in here Josh?" Brendon rasped and gestured with disappointment toward the cell.

Relieved it was his friend, Josh opened his hand to reveal the spork that still had dried scarlet stained on it. "He's hurting himself."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are appreciated! Be sure to sub if you like it so far |-/
> 
> okay, so the chapters after this should start picking up :)


	7. The Bold Risks We Take

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all the love and support guys! Also I just noticed how cheeky this chap is with fluff. And my gawd the concert was amazing, bless those smol bean boys.

 "So, he was starving himself and cutting his wrist with a piece of plastic?" Brendon raised the spork to inspect the now bending spikes of it. "All during the week you were gone?"

They were sitting alone in the break room. It was weird seeing Brendon in a much more intimidating uniform than what Josh wore. His helmet was resting on the table and acting as his armrest, Josh reaching to pull the spork out of his grasp to chip away any remaining dried blood. He didn't care that Brendon continued to stare at him in concern. He couldn't stop thinking about Tyler.

"He was probably going through some rough times before he came here." Brendon assumed. "How long did you say he was in for?"

"Five years." Josh sighed out, looking up at Brendon. "I'm worried about him."

"Of course you are. And he was worried about you when you were gone." Brendon tapped his fingers on his helmet and eyed Josh for a while before continuing. "You obviously care for each other."

Josh bit his lip and ran a hand through his pink hair that was starting to fade. He had wanted to dye it to refresh the color a few weeks prior, but he never got around to it. Not since Tyler came. Brendon was implying things that Josh personally thought was too dangerous for it to be true. It was stupid, and in some ways ironic. Guards weren't even supposed to even befriend the inmates.

He didn't realize he was bending the white piece of plastic until he heard a sudden snap and he saw two broken parts laying in his hands. He glanced up to see Brendon looking at him like he had just broken his own finger.

Josh sighed and stood up to toss the pieces into the trash nearby. "It's not going to work out. I should just leave things be."

Brendon nodded briefly. "Yeah just, let those years go by and soon everything will be perfectly fine.....in a way."

"In a way?"

"Well, it would still seem really weird seeing an ex-convict with a prison guard, Josh." He teased him with a smile spreading across his face.

Josh smiled back and let out a light chuckle. He stood there for a moment though, with his head down and hands in his pockets.

Brendon's expression shifted to worry as he stood up from the table and walked around to Josh. "You alright man?"

Josh lifted his head. "Yeah....I'm alright."

Brendon shifted beside him, reaching up a hand to pat his back and then grab his helmet off the table. He made his way out of the room and stopped in the doorway to look back at Josh. "They're going to be in the courtyard for workouts tomorrow at eleven." Brendon winked.

Josh stuck out his tongue and smirked.

Brendon flipped him off. "Enjoy the show." He pushed his helmet back on and turned to disappear down the corridor, leaving Josh alone.

 

♢ ♢ ♢

 

Tyler shifted from foot to foot as he leaned against the wall of the courtyard, uncomfortable watching the convicts lift heavy weights and listening to the disgusting grunts of effort. He could lift the average amount if he wanted to, but not in front of these guys. They would think he was incredibly weak even if he did put in the effort.

So instead, he glanced up to occasionally see birds gliding across the sky, making it seem so easy to clear the tall walls of concrete. Just on the other side was civilization. Fuck. He wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for his stupid decision in attempt to burn himself. Then again, he would never had met Josh; who just seemed to make everything better. He glance around.

Still no sign of Josh.

He hesitated. It started to get hot out so Tyler began to shift off the upper part of his scrubs to tie the arms of it around his waist. At least he was wearing a white t-shirt underneath so no one else could see his chest tattoos, only the ones on his arms.

He looked down at his now exposed wrists. Both were red and sore; one of the scratches had messed up the skin on the wrist that had the black ink on it. It would heal weird but it didn't seem to matter.

Tyler began to wander along the perimeter of the wall to keep himself occupied until it was time to go back to his dark cell. He looked around again; for the pink hair. There weren't many guards around if any, but he knew there must be more in the upper towers supervising.

He made his way to the corner of the exercise yard where a fence was bordered in front of a walkway for workers on the other side. He leaned against the wall again with his hands in his pockets, lowering his head to shield himself into the partial shade. Footsteps were pacing toward him as a guard came into view. Tyler didn't notice any pink hair visible through the corner of his eye so he decided to keep his head down.

But the guard then stopped right beside him on the other side of the fence and Tyler immediately knew it was him. "Salutations."

Tyler bit back a stupid grin that threatened to plaster his face, looking up at Josh. He was wearing a navy blue prison guard hat so it partially hid the fading pink hair. "It means 'hello." Tyler responded, both trying to hold back chuckles but their grins mirrored each other.

Josh stopped and looked at Tyler up and down. Tyler did the same, thinking they were checking each other out. But Josh looked at him differently until he realized he was looking _up_ at Tyler.

"Since when were you taller than me, Ty?"

Tyler looked down at himself, noticing he was standing at least a couple inches higher than Josh. He shrugged. "I guess I was never close enough to you for you to realized that I was."

Josh pretended to pout, but then relaxed into a light smile, stepping a little closer to the fence. Tyler's heart began to beat faster. They were only two feet apart. _If only the fence wasn't in the way...._

"Tyler?"

Tyler snapped out of his thoughts and pushed away the scene that had unraveled in his mind. "Yes?"

"That song you sang the other day," Josh began, lifting a hand to grasp the metal webs of the fence. "Was it about me?"

Tyler looked down at the hand that was clinging to the fence, fighting his urge to just grab it and never let him go. He smiled.

"Yeah....I guess it was."

He looked up to see Josh smiling back, a hint of red touched his cheeks.

"Can you sing for me?"

"What?" Tyler almost choked out.

"Can you sing for me real quickly?" Josh asked again. "If you could make up a song like that, you must have more written in your head."

Tyler returned his gaze down to Josh's hand, noticing the dried blood that was wedged beneath his fingertips. He guessed he had found the spork. "I do actually." He responed, swallowing hard as one song came to mind. "Okay." He began it quietly.

 

  _Night falls, with gravity._  
_The earth turns, from sanity_  
_Taking my only friend I know,_  
_He leaves a lot, his name is "Hope"._

 

Josh's eyes brightened and Tyler could feel his own hand grasping the fencing right next to his, their fingers now grazing each other. 

 

 _I'm never what I like_  
_I'm double-sided._  
_And I just can't hide_  
_I kinda like it_  
_When I make you cry_  
_Cause I'm twisted up, I'm twisted up, inside._  
  
_The horrors of the night melt away_  
_Under the warm glow of survival of the day_  
_Then we move on,_  
_My shadow grows taller along with my fears_  
_And my frame shrinks smaller as night grows near_  
  
_When the sun is climbing window sills_  
_And the silver lining rides the hills_  
_I will be saved for one whole day_  
_Until the sun make the hills it's grave_

 

Tyler stopped short of his song to look up into Josh's amazed expression, like he had just heard an angel sing and Tyler couldn't help but blush.

"That was beautiful." Josh's hand moved and he began to knit his fingers with Tyler's as much as he could through the fence. Tyler started to feel himself shake at the contact and Josh fumbled with his words. "Y-you're beautiful."

Tyler's eyes lit up and he guessed Josh suddenly realized what he had just said; what he had just revealed after watching Tyler either from a distance or from behind a cell door for two weeks. And now, all Tyler could do was smile.

"Do you really mean that?"

Josh played gently with Tyler's fingers. "Yeah, I do."

Tyler continued to restrain himself from wanting to rip down the fence. Their fingers began to entwine more securely. "I want to be with you, Josh." He rasped. "On the other side."

"Tyler."

Tears began to bubble in the corners of Tyler's eyes. He raised his other hand to wipe away the water and then started smearing it on his forehead so it would appear as sweat to others.

"We'll make it work, Tyler." Josh insisted.

"For the next five years?"

Josh just nodded slowly, a mix of hope and determination beamed from him, and even a little excitement knowing the fearlessness in the risks he was willing to take with a prisoner he only met recently. It was bold proposition, nonetheless.

"Josh." Tyler breathed in steadily.

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm starting to fall in love you."

As he said it out loud, he felt his own chest crushing in sadness rather than happiness, or with hope that Josh felt the same way. But Josh just remained silent and that added to his own anxiety.

Tyler gnawed on his lip. "Why did you have to be a guard, Josh?" He felt frustration eating away at his insides. "And out of all my life choices, why did I decide to burn down a tree house? Everything would have turned out a lot easier if I hadn't."

It surprised Tyler though when Josh let out a single laugh. He eyed the guard with curiosity.

"But then we never would have met." Josh still had his bright smile plastered on his face, forcing Tyler to do the same after he realized that it was completely true.

"Tyler?"

Josh's voice brought his attention back to gaze at the other with softness. Josh stared back at him for a moment or two before confessing.

"I know I'm falling for you too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sub if you like it so you can know when I update again :3


	8. Hope Leaves A Lot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay this fic is one month old!  
> Forgive me for this chapter I don't know if you were expecting more fluff or not

Tyler stared numbly at Josh through the fence. He didn't know how to feel now that their words processed in his mind. He had thought he would be relieved once he told Josh, but it only made him feel even more uneasy. He could feel the wary and suspicious eyes of convicts casting quick glances in their direction.

The guard was risking more trouble for himself the longer he stood so close to Tyler.

Josh stared back expectantly, as if waiting for Tyler to explode with happiness at what he just said. But Tyler remained silent as the moments stretched on, and slowly Josh's smiled eased.

Tyler hesitated, his throat tightening.

"Josh, you should go back."

Josh looked at Tyler as if he had just raked a knife across his face. "What?" He looked hurt, glancing around like there was a possibility Tyler had said that because another guard was approaching. "What's wrong?" Josh whispered.

"This.....this whole thing." He swallowed.

Sadness edged Josh's eyes. "Oh." Dragging his gaze down to their hands, he unwound their fingers, slowly pulling his hand away from Tyler's through the fence. Tyler felt like his whole hand was being ripped off when Josh's skin left his.

"I'm sorry."

Josh rested his hands in his pockets again and took a step back. "I just thought.... nevermind." He shook his head. "You're right." He mumbled.

Tyler still held onto the fence. "I'll see you around."

"Right." Josh replied, sounding so distant.

As he turned to leave, Tyler could feel himself crumble inside with how Josh responded; but more with how he himself had just basically told josh to get lost.  They acted as if  what they previously just confessed didn't even happen at all. He bit his lip as he watched the pink-haired guard disappear around the corner.

And the urge to get a spork was overwhelming.

 

♢ ♢ ♢

 

_I know I'm falling for you too._

Josh's words rang in his ears, puting him in a blind trance of thought for a while. Despite how their first conversation went a few weeks ago, Josh had proved he was a genuine person. Someone good, unlike most of the guards here that constantly made it clear to the people dressed in orange that they had superiority. Tyler didn't like the possibilities of how this could all turn out. He hadn't realized how much they were both at risk until now.

He was in the exercise yard once again, staring blankly from a distance at the fence corner he stood with Josh many days prior.

It had been exactly eleven days since their encounter along the fence line, and Tyler silently begged for Josh to look his way everytime he patrolled past the cell. Clearly still hurt, Josh had kept his steady gaze forward as he walked past his cell. Tyler always watched in silence as the guard left the block, his mouth slightly agape in attempt to say something, but nothing ever came out.

So, after each night came around without Josh coming to hear his singing, Tyler took the shrinking piece of charcoal and marked down the days.

A sharp pain suddenly knocked in in the back, sending him tumbling down onto the dusty concrete. Bewildered, he frantically  began to pick himself up and spit out the dirt that got into his mouth. Regaining himself, he stumbled back up, squinting through the harsh rays of sunlight to see a burly inmate practically standing over him.

Tyler coughed and held a hand to his neck to ease the burning feeling of grains of dirt that had managed to get down his throat. He looked at the smirking muscular brute that had pushed him down, trying his hardest not to curse him out.

"Where's your boyfriend, twirp?" The man rumbled out with a sneer. He rested his hands on his waist to make himself look more intimidating.

Tyler glared back and began to notice a crowd of orange people starting to assemble around them. He casted weary eyes around,  hoping there were guards seeing this.

He hoped Josh was seeing this.

"What?" The man bit out, still smirking wickedly. "Your boy isn't here to help you?"

"Get away from me." Tyler choked out weakly. This was going to shit.

" 'Get away from me!' "  The man mocked. He took a deadly step closer to Tyler, but Tyler held his place stubbornly, refusing to let himself move. "Everybody can see you two always mooning over each other. It's becoming disgusting watching a criminal sing to a fucking prison guard!"

In a split second, the man's fist rammed into Tyler's jaw, making his head snap painfully to the side as Tyler fell hard to the ground yet again. He pushed his upper torso up with trembling arms and wiped away the blood that was now bubbling from the corner of his mouth.

The man looked down with satisfaction and advanced closer to the inmate kneeling in front of him. Anger flared up inside of Tyler. Scrambling up, he lunged forward and rammed his head into the gut of the other. A gasp escaped the man as the majority of the air was knocked out of him, and the force made him stumble back.

Tyler's head now ached like he had just shoved it into a wall, but he stood up tall now facing the other man. He spat out a wad of bloody saliva as a challenge.

The man regained himself and scowled with hostility at the younger man that was three times thinner than him. Each action made the man's face grow even more red with anger. He threw another blow, only this time into the side of Tyler's head. Tyler hunched over in pain as the whole world seemed to sway around him.

Taking advantage of his weakness, the man grabbed Tyler into a strangling headlock. Tyler gasped as his airflow was cut short, and then was thrown down a third time onto the concrete that spun even faster beneath him. He groaned and flipped himself over weakly to see the man stalking toward him again.

With all his strength, Tyler raised a leg quickly to kick the man in his lower area once he was close enough. The man let out an agonized yell, but that didn't stop him from lunging at Tyler who was still on the ground, dazed.

"All cheap moves fucker!" He groaned in sync with his hands snapping out, grabbing Tyler by his collar tightly, shaking him back and forth in the air like a rag doll. He could barely breath anymore.

Tyler couldn't take much more of this. Reaching his hands out despite being shaken, he grabbed the other's neck and dug his fingernails in the flesh until they drew scarlet blood. Ignoring the choking sound he began to hear above the encouraging shouts of the inmates, he watched blood stream down his fingertips; running over the healing cuts on his wrist.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was really short. But hope you liked it.
> 
> How do you guys feel about a flashback chapter soon?


	9. You Feel Twice As Far

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love! School has started back up so I'll probably be slower with updating, if that's any more possible :/
> 
> The new Highlight video #10 made me cry it was so amazing.

Guilt began to sit heavier and heavier in Josh's stomach ever since he began ignoring Tyler. He pulled at his light pink hair, ashamed with how he was now behaving like a child. Tyler told him to leave because he didn't want anyone to see them; it was for all the best intentions. So how come Josh still felt so hurt?

Eleven days had slowly passed, and he had barely looked at Tyler. He knew he was being a clear jerk now, but a part of him wanted to prove a point for a stupid reason, like a kid.

He was about to round the corner of one of the hallways to the guards break room when a familiar voice shouted his name. Turning, he was met by the friendly face of Brendon walking out from another hallway. The cert guard uniform was really suiting the man well. Josh smiled.

"Josh my man!" Brendon wrapped Josh in a tight embrace like he hadn't seen the man in weeks.

"Hey dude." Padding his back, they parted and Brendon grabbed Josh's shoulders.

"Want to see something cool?"

Josh chuckled. "Sure."

Brendon led him down the hallway a ways down to a door marked _Security_ on a black plate. He didn't want to tell Brendon he had already been inside numerous times on other occasions, but he wanted to see how the guy would present this place to him like he was opening for a show.

Sure enough, as soon as Brendon swung open the door and stepped in to let Josh see, he flung his arms up in presentation. "Bam!"

A man seated in the main chair jumped in surprise from the outburst, almost dropping the box of chow mein noodles he was eating. He cocked an eye at Brendon in annoyance.

"The security room?" Josh grinned as he brought his attention to the many screens that monitored the whole prison. There had to be dozens of them that occasionally flicked to different depressing scenes; every foot of the prison was always on camera.

"What's up Mark?" Brendon hit the back of the man's chair, making the man named Mark flinch again as he gripped his food tighter so he wouldn't drop it.

"Well I was having a nice meal until you barged in." Mark teased and Brendon bumped him in the shoulder.

"Every inch of this place is monitored from ceiling to floor here!" Brendon declared and turned away from Mark to look at a few of the screens.

Mark rolled his eyes. "He knows, Brendon." He said in between chews; voicing Josh's thoughts. "He's been here before."

Brendon shrugged. "Well, I presented it to him pretty damn well, so that's gotta count for something."

Josh stifled a laugh and walked up closer to get a better look at the black and white images on the screen. It filmed orange blurs shuffling in concrete cages, some working out in the weight rooms and benching around 500 pounds. It showed guards stalking or either standing still in places, eyeing everything with strict eyes like anything there would lash out at them.

The three of them were all looking on in silence before one screen caught Josh's attention. He leaned closer and pointed at it which brought Mark and Brendon's attention to it.

A crowd of inmates gathered around some movement caught in the center. Josh squinted to try to make out what it was until he noticed it was two men struggling. One of the buff men had his hands gripping the collar of the other thinner looking man. Josh nearly gasped when he recognized the lithe frame of Tyler, who had his hands outstretched to the neck of the other.

Suddenly, an alarm blazed throughout the room. The guards in the tower must have already seen the fight and pulled the alarm to notify the others for backup. Josh was racing out of the room in an instant with Brendon right behind him.

Josh dashed as quickly as he could through the prison. He occasionally stumbled and almost took a few wrong turns when anxiety began to mix in with the guilt already in his stomach. It wasn't a nice combination.

"For the love of God, Josh slow down!" Brendon hissed behind him.

Guards were already forming in more teams the closer they got to the courtyard exit. By the time he and Brendon assembled outside, more guards, including the certs, were already shouting at the inmates watching the brawl to return to their cells.

Josh directed his attention to were everyone was staring.

The bigger inmate was still tussling with Tyler while Tyler hung on for dear life. Several guards had moved in began to tackle the bigger inmate.

Josh took the opportunity to come up from behind Tyler and grab hold of his waist to pry him down, another guard joining him in the process to take down the heavier inmate, separating the two simultaneously. He slammed Tyler to the ground rather harshly with a thud and rested a foot on the man's back to keep him down.

Josh crouched and secured some handcuffs around Tyler's thinning wrists. That's when he noticed the blood on the inmate's hands. A lot of blood. Josh retreated his hands in disgust at the feeling of it now glazing his hands.

Looking up from Tyler beneath him, Josh saw that the guards had managed to contain the burly inmate easily; but that was because the man was barely moving, if moving at all. They swarmed around the man shouting orders to others as blood became more and more visible around his thick neck.

He looked back down at Tyler, wanting to get the image of the man out of his mind and replace it with who he was holding down with his foot. Who he was finally so close to. Tyler's head was resting on the side that was closest to Josh, eyes closed and breathing heavily.

"Tyler?" Josh whispered.

Tyler didn't respond, still trying to gulp in the air he had lost during the struggle. Guards and prison medics were now tending to the injured man several yards away. Josh removed his foot from Tyler's back, kneeling next to him and bending down low to Tyler's ear. He whispered his name more curtly this time. "Tyler!" Shaking his shoulder roughly. It left a faded bloody hand print on the fabric of  Tyler's shoulder. It took Josh aback for a second, almost forgetting the blood from Tyler's hands had smeared onto his own from putting on the handcuffs.

Tyler finally cracked open his eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight and wheezing in discomfort.

"Come on baby boy." Josh immediately winced at the name he had just referred Tyler as. "Tyler come on, you need to get up." Standing, he reached down to grasp Tyler's wrists and made an attempt to haul him upward. It took a few moments before Tyler finally gave in and stood up clumsily to his feet.

  
They left the scene with another guard trailing ahead of them, leading him to a new holding cell that acted as a medical station.

  
It would be a while before Tyler would actually be back in his old cell again that had all the coal drawings hanging beside his bed.

Brushing aside the scene of the bloody and injured man in the courtyard to the back of his mind, Josh focused his attention on Tyler. Walking him down the halls with his hands clasped around the other's wrists reminded him of the first time he led Tyler to his cell with Brendon; he just wished he could be reminded of it under calmer circumstances.

Josh looked down at the wrists he was gripping softly. He stroked his thumb gently over the scabs that were healing the once deep cuts, wishing that his touches could heal them completely. It made Tyler raise his head, cocking it slightly to the side so he could could see Josh better from the corner of his eye.

"Josh?" He whispered warily, like he hadn't even realized Josh was the one who was walking him. Tyler was probably so caught in the moment that his whole mind might have been in a daze right after the fight ended; oblivious to his surroundings.

"Yeah, it's me."

Tyler retreated his gaze back in front of him. The guard eventually stopped at one of the rooms that looked less sinister than the concrete cells. It was brighter here and the doors looked more like doors with windows, rather than cages. The three stepped in in silence and Josh sat Tyler down on one of the benches. He looked so tired and defeated as he sat slouched on the bench that all Josh wanted to do was comfort him with his words and touches. It was the first time he could actually see Tyler clearly with the brightness of florescent lights instead of the blinding sun or under the depressing shadows of the prison cells.

A sound  at the door ripped Josh away from his obvious staring. Another man in dressed in nurse scrubs stepped in, wheeling in a cart that was packed to the brim with medical supplies. The two guards stepped aside to make room as he stepped in front of Tyler and slipped on some gloves.

"Are you injured sir?" The man asked.

It seemed like a dumb question at first, of course he must be hurt. But Josh noticed that Tyler looked perfectly fine despite his tired look and reddened neck.

"My neck and the side of my head." Tyler finally rasped out.

The man proceeded to examine Tyler by cocking his head to the side and looking at some scratches on the area. Josh let him do this, even though he thought the guy wasn't being gentle enough.

A minute later he released his grip on Tyler. "You're fine. He can go back to his cell."

"Um..." The voice of the other guard surprised Josh. He looked at the man who was now pursing his lips in uncertainty. "You might want to.....take a look at his hands." The guard pointed to Tyler. Josh swallowed.

The nurse furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but then reached over out to grab Tyler's shoulder and arch him down so he could see the wrists handcuffed behind his back. Pure horror reflected in his eyes. "My God...."

Josh shifted on his feet uncomfortably. _Just clean them._

The nurse retracted and breathed out. "We need to talk to the warden about this one." He released his grip on Tyler and rummaged through his cart, pulling out several hand wipes and a bottle of disinfectant.

After he had Tyler's hands cleaned up as much as he could with the handcuffs now binded in front of him, the nurse handed Josh and the other guard incident reports on clipboards saying they need to get the information out of him about what happened.

Josh willingly took his clipboard. The other guard left with the nurse to get the needed information from the other man from the courtyard, which left Josh standing alone in front of Tyler.

Tyler looked up at Josh.

"What happened Tyler?"

Tyler looked back down and played with his fingers. "He was saying stuff. The guy." He finished with a sniff.

Josh took off his hat and held it in the hand that was holding the clipboard. He stepped closer to Tyler's side. It looked like Tyler had hid some of the real pain he was feeling when the other two men were here.

 "Where does it hurt?" Josh asked.

Tyler directed with his finger around his neck and drew in a jagged breath then coughed. "It feels like my throat caved in." He rasped.

Josh cursed himself for not even thinking about getting the man water, but he was supposed to be getting information about the fight from him. He decided to seat himself right next to Tyler. It was weird. Here he was inches away from the innate but he felt twice as far away.

He was about to draw in a breath to speak, Tyler beat him to it.

"Josh I'm so sorry." He blurted out. Josh met his gaze solemnly and the two stared at each other for a few moments.

"Don't be." It wasn't right for Tyler to be apologizing for what happened days ago. If anyone, it was Josh who should be saying sorry for giving him the silent treatment. "I understand."

The two stayed silent in thought for a while longer.

"I missed you." One of them rasped and Josh looked over at Tyler, but then he realized that he was the one who said it.

Tyler swallowed, a mixture a pain in his eyes. "I missed you too."

Josh felt himself leaning in slowly, never breaking contact with Tyler's eyes. For a second, he thought he would kiss Tyler on the lips. But when they were mere centimeters apart, Josh instead brushed his nose into Tyler's cheek and delivered a light kiss there instead.

He felt Tyler shudder at the touch. His own heart beating strongly in his chest wanting to do more, but he forced himself to pull away before he did anything else.

Tyler opened his eyes blissfully and the corners of his lips raised so high, showing his beautiful smile that revealed so much happiness it made Josh astonished to believe this was the same inmate. He wanted to kiss Tyler again and again because of how attractive he looked right now.

 "I've never seen you smile like that before."

"Well, you're making it hard not to."

 

♢ ♢ ♢

 

Later that night, Tyler laid in his bed of his darkening cell, eyes glazed and rewinding the moment Josh touched him and kissed his cheek.

He loved him so much.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the gate of his cell. A few papers flew in, startling him even when a piece of charcoal was dropped in. He let out a breath when he realized who they where from.

Josh smiled in the shadows on the other side of the gate.

"I thought you might like these." Josh said quietly, scratching his elbow lightly.

Tyler smiled back.

"Thank you Josh."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you enjoyed this ;) 
> 
> I made a Joshler montage too if you wanted to go see that:  
> https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sW-6UbjdBGg


	10. What The Kids Are Doing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys made me so happy from all the comments in the last chapter ;) Sorry it's been two weeks. I was debating whether or not I should make this chapter.

_Papers were occasionally crumpled by a thin hand and thrown to the floor every so often, making the ground become littered in white. He was writing with a dulling pencil since he lost his favorite pen weeks ago._

_The right words just couldn't come to his mind and spill onto the papers correctly. Tyler picked up his ukulele and strummed it once in frustration, and a second time in grief. Setting it back down at his bedside and looking out the window in the dark._

_The light from his room cascaded out of his window, falling onto the aging tree house that sat in the dry oak tree like it was just a bunch of firewood boarded together in a hurry. It was losing it's structure and Tyler had no idea how old it was by now. It was already built when he started renting out the small house._

_He hadn't been outside with civilization in days, too depressed to do much since the funeral service. Tyler returned his gaze back inside and looked over at the longboard sitting with no purpose against his door._

_He wanted to break it._

_But he didn't. Instead, he sighed and picked up his iPhone and looked at the time. It was close to 1am. He contemplated whether or not he should call a friend this late at night, but he felt the sudden urge to spill out all his troubles to someone. Anyone._

_He clicked on a contact but as the phone rang through the other end, Tyler decided it was best not to hand out his troubles to another person and just make a decent conversation with who he was calling instead._

_"Hello?" A man's voice answered weakly, thick with sleep._

_Tyler winced. It was way too late to be calling him, especially since they haven't talked for months. But it was also too late to hang up now._

_"Ah, Mark?"_

_"......Tyler?"_

_"Yeah. It's me."_

_"My god, Tyler it's been months!" Mark piped up with disbelief, tiredness ebbing away.  Tyler was surprised he didn't hear any annoyance mixed in with his voice. Here he was, talking to him past midnight for the first time since Mark moved, and it sounded like all the man wanted to do was catch up on the lost months._

_"Yeah it has. Guess we've just been busy."_

_"How've you been?"_

_Tyler found it hard to answer. He hadn't been well at all; depressed and banishing himself to the hollows of his bedroom for hours on end. He knew that doing so wasn't helping. Guilt washed over him each day after the accident, and his friend that was once alive haunted his nightmares with sightless eyes._

_"Tyler?"_

_Tears suddenly glided down Tyler's cheeks and a noise escaped his lips. His hand supported his wavering head as he leaned against his desk heavily. Now the right words couldn't come to his mouth correctly._

_He heard Mark fumble with the right words to say through the other end. "Oh my gosh, Tyler I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked-"_

_"No." Tyler cut him off. "It's alright." He took in a deep breath to compose himself again. "It's just been hard."_

_"I heard what happened a few months ago and, I wanted to know how everything is with you. If you ever need to talk about it..."_

_Tyler nodded, then realized Mark couldn't see him. "Thanks Mark."_

_"No problem." Mark said quietly. Tyler imagined him nodding too, and silence gripped the air._

_Gnawing his lip, Tyler finally spoke hesitantly. "So, when are you going to be back?"_

_"Back?" Mark questioned. "Like, visit?"_

_"Yeah, a visit."_

_"I don't think I can.....at least not for a while, Tyler. They need as many people as they can here; it's intense."_

_Disappointment washed over him. He needed people in his life right now, but there wasn't many he could depend on anymore except for a few deadbeat friends that weren't really friends at all. He was far from his hometown and parents, Mark had moved six months ago, and any of his other friends were either drugged up or dead. Like a late friend that couldn't longboard with him anymore._

_Because of me._

_Tyler suddenly felt sick. "It's fine, Mark. I hope the job works out for you over there."_

_"Thanks Ty. And keep writing your music."_

_Tyler smiled at that, though it faltered just a bit. "You've been a great friend."_

_The statement seemed odd as soon as it left his mouth, and he could tell Mark thought the same. After a few more minutes of their weak conversations, they finally said bye to each other and hung up their phones._

_Tyler set the device down carefully on the desk; the battery was still fully charged. He took the papers he had been writing on and shuffled them neatly together and push them off into the corner. He grasped his ukulele and settled down onto his bed with it hugged tightly to his chest for comfort. Strumming it slowly for a while, he eventually hummed out disorderly words._

_"We stay in place 'cause we don't wanna lose our lives." He plucked a string. "So let's think of something better."_

_He couldn't really remember the rest of the words that flowed out, but he finished shortly after he started. "Something happened to my imagination, this situation's becoming dire..."_

_A flash filled his mind of a young man racing down the steep road on a longboard, face hidden by his helmet and visor. The blurry sight was filtered by a layer of glass as everything seemed to be gradually speeding up. In a matter of seconds, the person veered away sharply and Tyler himself jerked forward. He managed to snap out of the scene right before it unfolded anymore and looked up to study his room for a few moments. Tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes._

_He shot his gaze out of his window. The tree house mocked him in the oak, behind dying leaves that began to stir in the dark sky as early morning breeze came._

_Ukulele in his hands, Tyler walked out of his room, out if his house, until he felt his legs leading him to his garage. Looking around, he shoved an old  lighter in his pocket and picked up a gallon of gasoline with his free hand, careful not to get any of the substance on his uke._

_Tyler looked up at the wooden structure in his backyard, then back to his house for what he thought was the last time. Sighing, he began to pour the gas carelessly around the base of the tree. His mind was focusing on what he was doing rather than on any of his surroundings._

_Setting the gas container away, he retrieved the lighter from his pocket and flicked it on. The orange light reflected onto his face as he stared at it, still holding his ukulele with a strong grasp._

_He tossed the lighter to the ground near the bark, soon proceeding to climb the ladder that was made out of boards nailed to the tree. He would take his own life so he could say sorry to his friend._

_Tyler was just about halfway up when he felt extreme heat spreading fast around him and singeing through his clothes. In a moment of panic, his feet slipped and his head slammed against the tree as he stumbled down, scratching the brim of his nose and the side of his cheek deeply._

_His body fell hard onto the ground below, Tyler groaning in a daze. The flames were now swallowing up the tree as shouts and screams began to sound from up above._

_Oh no._

_Movements caught his eye from inside of the tree house. It was his friends that must have been hanging up there for the night like bums; Tyler scolding himself when he saw them dropping like flies out of the tree._

_He stood like a coward until he finally pushed his legs to run, dropping his ukulele in the bushes as he ran, running away from his troubles because he had no idea what else to do now. Tyler sprinted by multiple neighbors of his and shoved them aside as they gathered around, curious of what was emitting the orange glow from behind his house. He made it to a hillside until his body finally screamed for him to stop. The sun was just rising, its rays highlighting the fire and filtering brightly through the smoke._

_Horror glinted in Tyler's eyes as he watched the flames lick up three whole houses in such a short amount of time. Firefighters arrived a little too late to save the homes, and the police came soon after. The whole world was tinted with orange from that day forward._

_Time seemed to skip a beat, and he was standing before a judge._

_"Your Honor, please. Neither of the incidents were intentional. I was just in the wrong place; I never wanted to hurt anyone." Tyler pleaded._

_"You have become a real menace to society, Joseph." The voice echoed back. "You probably would have been better off just staying inside your house."_

 

 

♢ ♢ ♢

 

Tyler woke up panting, anxiety crashing over him as the residue of the dream was still fresh in his mind. Craning his head, he rubbed his face to clear his eyesight and steady his breathing. The cell had a gray hue to it. Rainclouds formed outside of the small window several feet up, water droplets flicking against the glass.

He became aware of the steady pace of footsteps coming down the hall. Josh would be here to say good morning to him and ask if he was okay from the fight yesterday. Tyler would be amused by how much Josh cared and just say that his neck was still just a little sore, not going to mention the horrid dream that was as fresh as the day it happened. At that thought, Tyler reached to feel his neck. There were still nail marks indented into his skin and he absolutely hated it. He then felt the brim of his nose. The scratch was still there too.

As the footsteps drew nearer, he noticed that it was from several different feet. Tyler quickly sat up and eyed the gate door suspiciously as three guards became visible. Tyler swallowed.

"Stand up sir, and put your hands behind your back. Back to us." One guard directed.

"W-what?" Tyler spluttered out.

"You heard us. Stand up."

"Why?" He was so confused right now and for a second he believed he was still dreaming. He longed for Josh.

"Don't make me tell you again sir, now stand up!"

Tyler opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. There was no use trying to refuse anymore. He had given in when Josh ordered him out of his cell a few weeks ago, and he didn't have the energy to fight again either.

Slowly, he pulled himself up and did what he was told. Cold metal clasped his wrists and for a second, he tried to imagine it was Josh who had grabbed his arms and dragged him out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you actually liked this chap, or not :)
> 
> I'm making a fan fic montage of this and will probably be on my YT channel soon.


	11. The Lights Are Taking Prisoners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are going to hate me.

Josh was awaken by the sound of rain  pattering against the window beside his bed. He cracked open his eyes and shivered at the coldness that now engulfed his bedroom. Reluctantly pulling off the covers that kept him warm, the guard stumbled out of bed to get dressed in his uniform.

The rain seemed to be heavier by the time Josh had finished changing. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he looked out the window briefly, contemplating whether he should wear his guard hat or his gray beanie today just for fun.

He decided on the beanie. Tyler would probably think it would look weird with Josh's guard uniform, but with a tuft of his pink hair showing out of it would make up for the strangeness. Josh smiled at the thought.

Walking over to his dresser, he pulled out the top drawer and shuffled through his various amounts of socks, shirts, and underwear. It wasn't until he reached the bottom when he finally found the beanie. As he pulled it out sharply, an object that had been tucked inside flew from it and landed onto the carpet with a clink.

Josh eyed it down until he realized it was just a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses he had forgotten he had. He didn't know why exactly he bought them; it was totally different than the sunglasses he normally wore.

Crouching down to pick them up, he shrugged and went to grab his navy blue coat and car keys before he left the house. The rain was cold as Josh sprinted to the driveway  where his car was parked. He got in quickly and ignited the engine, looking forward to seeing Tyler. He would be there to say good morning to him and ask if he was okay from the fight yesterday. Tyler would be amused by how much Josh cared, and hopefully just say that his neck was still just a little sore.

As he sat in his drivers seat listening to the engine, Josh staring at the white sunglasses in his hands. He finally decided to tuck them away into the glove compartment across from the passengers seat. They served no purpose right now, so they could act as a backup if Josh ever forgot his other pairs in the car.

He pulled into the prison staff parking lot about an hour later. The rain was still coming down heavy and the guard bundled himself into his jacket after he locked his car, racing for the shelter of the building. He nodded to a few guards in greeting as he passed through the hallways. He stepped into the staff office to clock in and figure out where he was stationed for the day.

The room was already cramped with other guards that were hanging around with coffee cups in their hands. Josh decided to get a cup for himself too, managing to push his way to the coffee brewer at the corner of the room.

"Ey Joss." Brendon's voice mumbled nearby. Josh turned to see the man eating a mouthful of donut and a coffee cup was held in his other hand.

"Are there any leftovers?" Josh asked him, knowing well there probably wasn't.

"Not anymore." Brendon swallowed and took another big bite before offering the quarter that was left to Josh.

Josh didn't hesitate as he grabbed the piece of food and popped it in his mouth, honestly quite disgusted with himself. Brendon snickered. "You look tired today."

Josh swallowed his food and rubbed a hand down his face, only now noticing tiredness enfold him. "I got home late from the prison last night." He said as he picked up a styrofoam cup from the stack on the table.

"Oh _really_?" Brendon piped up with his voice higher-pitched, raising his eyebrows as a creepy grin spread across his face.

"Be quiet, dude. Not like that." Josh rolled his eyes and poured a cup of the liquid, not bothering to sweeten it with anything. But Brendon was still looking on with quirked eyebrows.

"I gave him some paper and charcoal so he wouldn't get bored. For God's sake, Brendon."

"That's it?" Brendon finally said, interest in the topic fading away from his face.

"Yes."

"Darn."

Josh let out a light chuckle and raised the cup to his lips as Brendon shuffled his feet in disappointment. He thanked God that the man didn't ask about what happened after the fight was broken up yesterday, or how Josh had sat mere centimeters next to Tyler to kiss his cheek. He felt his face growing warm at the memory.

"And what are you smiling about?" Brendon's cheeky voice snapped him out of it.

Lifting his head, Brendon's devilish grin haunted Josh as he could have sworn the man was trying to pry open his thoughts with a crowbar.

"Nothing." Which to both of them obviously meant something.

" _'Oh! It's nothing!'_ " Brendon mimicked.

"Whatever dude." Josh turned and was about to leave Brendon to go on patrol around the prison when the man called him back.

"I checked; you're in the security room for most of the day Josh!"

Josh halted for a moment and shot the man a blank look before shrugging and taking a right turn down the hallway instead of a left. Right after this shift, he was going straight to Tyler's cell.

He made it to the security room once again, knocking before cracking open the door and stepping into the darker room. The man named Mark was there again, turning in his chair to see who had come in. A welcoming smile rose on his lips. He never really talked to the man before, rarely being stationed in the here throughout the years he worked at the prison.

"Salutations."

Mark nodded. "Hello."

Josh took a seat in the swivel chair next to him. Mark soon had straightened up in his seat to get a better look at Josh.

"Hey, you're the guy from yesterday that Brendon brought in!"

"Yep that's me." Josh smiled as he slouched in his seat and clasped his hands together over his stomach.

Mark held out a hand. "Mark Eshleman."

Josh polity grasped the hand and shook it. "Joshua Dun."

They both settled back down in their seats, staring at the many screens in front of them like they were a bunch of TVs.

"You know," Mark started. "I've seen you  patrolling around here for quite a while, and every guard is occasionally stationed in here. I'm surprised we never met formally."

"Well, I only work here on the weekdays."

"Oh, well, it's Sunday."

"Really?" Josh took his phone from his back pocket and checked the date. "Oh. I didn't even notice." He had been so focused on Tyler, Josh figured he must have been working extra days throughout the weeks. "No wonder I'm stationed here today."

"It's not going to be too exciting, like always."

The two chuckled before it grew quiet again. Josh found himself being hypnotized by the screens in front of him again that seemed to be playing in slow motion.

"Hey, so what happened at the fight you guys ran to yesterday?"

Mark was just trying to make a decent conversation, but the incident really had Josh nervous about Tyler. So much that he didn't really feel like talking about it. Though Mark had turned his gaze to him, expecting an answer.

Josh took a breath. "Ehh, this big guy was strangling Ty-" He immediately caught himself when he was about to call the inmate by his name in front of a person who wasn't Brendon. "-this one skinny inmate in the courtyard. But the skinny one dug his nails into the other's neck and he started bleeding a lot. We managed to tear them apart and get them both in rooms for questioning."

"Do you know if the guy is fine now?"

"Yeah he's fine. He was barely injured though; he just had a sore neck and some indentations."

Mark developed a puzzled expression on his face, then opened his mouth to speak. "Ah, I meant the guy who was bleeding profusely from his neck...."

Embarrassed, Josh stumbled over his words for a response. "Oh. I-I have no idea."

"Were you about to call that inmate by his name?"

All Josh could do was swallow. "Yeah"

Mark smiled and scoffed, though it was all in amusement. "Well then what's his name?"

"That's not important, Mark." Josh turned his head to stare directly at him.

"Yes it is. What is it?" Mark leaned closer over the armrest of his chair, cocking his head so his ear was closer to Josh to listen.

Josh shook his head. "You're really acting like Brendon right now."

"Well maybe I'll just bring Brendon in here and get him to tell me."

"Okay okay. Don't." Josh sighed and looked down at his hands. "His name's Tyler."

He expected Mark to react like how he thought Brendon would react if he found out this way; with cackling and cooing about how Josh was attracted to a prisoner. But silence had gripped the air and Josh was becoming uncomfortable as the moments ticked on. He finally decided to look over at Mark, who's face had drained in color.

"Tyler?" He echoed.

Josh bit his lip. "Yeah."

It was Mark's turn to swallow. "What does he look like?"

Josh didn't know where to start. He would probably go on for hours if he had to describe every perfect detail of the man who burned down three houses. He felt himself blushing as he began slowly.

"He has dark mocha hair that's ruffled toward the top. He's thin because he doesn't eat a lot. There's a scar on the bridge of his nose, and some on the side of his cheek. Light pink lips, tattoos on his arm, and-" Josh found himself becoming more descriptive. "He's actually a bit taller than me."

Mark had hunched over in his chair with his hands supporting his head. Josh noticed this and stopped talking, worried what was possibly wrong with him. "Mark?"

The man straightened up, looking back at Josh with the best fake smile. "Yes?"

"Are you okay dude?"

Mark scratched his head before sitting back into his chair. "I'm fine."

The rest of Josh's shift in the security room with Mark was just small talk, watching the videos of the prison, and occasionally making fun of certain inmates that looked like the most tattooed guys on the face of the earth. He didn't press Mark for answers on why he looked so taken aback when Tyler's name was mentioned.

When his shift ended at around 2pm and he said goodbye to Mark, he made his way down the many halls towards Tyler's cell block. The walk there seemed longer this time, so Josh picked up his pace as he neared the cell block entrance with anticipation.

_Last cell to the right. Last cell to the right._

He passed through the line of cells as he walked to the end of the block, each one containing an orange figure sitting still inside. Josh stepped in front of Tyler's cell, about to tap his hand on the bars before he noticed that the man inside was not the inmate he was expecting.

This guy was twice the size of Tyler, muscular, tattooed with even more ink, and he didn't look attractive at all. Josh's welcoming smile immediately fell. For a second, he thought it was the wrong cell. He looked around. The area remained familiar with the same inmates still sitting in the cells nearby.

Josh returned his gaze back. As soon as he saw Tyler's white charcoal drawings crumpled up and thrown onto the ground like litter, he knew for sure this was the right cell. But it wasn't right anymore; Tyler wasn't here.

He scowled at the inmate, but as soon as he turned around, anxiety crashed over him. He had no idea where Tyler was, and he had just seen him last night. He began to search each cell in the block quickly. Still no Tyler.

"Tyler?" He called, making heads turn to him from behind the black bars.

"Tyler!" He shouted again.

No response. Josh ran out of the cell block and down the others, frantically searching for Tyler's face. But all  he got in turn were the glowing eyes of the other inmates staring at him in puzzlement.

As he rounded the corner of the next cell block, he collided heavily into another body, making him fall down and hit his head harshly onto the ground. He groaned and looked up as he rubbed his throbbing head.

"Josh what the hell are you doing?" Brendon scolded him in a loud whisper.

Josh ignored him and scrambled up, about to dash down the hallway before a hand grabbed his arm.

"What's you're problem!?"

Josh struggled to free his arm from the tight grasp of Brendon. "Let me go Brendon!"

"Not until you tell me what's wrong!"

Josh grunted and finally pulled his arm free.  He made a move to run down the hall again, but two arms where suddenly strangling his waist to hold him back. Josh grabbed and clawed at them.

"Tyler!" He shrieked even louder.

"Josh stop you're acting like an idiot!"

With every move Josh fought, Brendon just held on tighter in effort to try to retain the guard. It began to get difficult to get air back into his lungs since every move was wasting more oxygen. Brendon seemed to be the stronger one now as Josh's struggles weakened. He had a better hold on Josh after all.

Before Josh was just about to let his legs go limp from exhaustion, the lights above them began to flicker irregularly and the soft buzzing of the electricity was cut short. They both froze, Josh practically hanging in Brendon's clasped arms as they remained in darkness for just a few moments. As fast as it happened, the lights came back on with a steady illumination.

Josh huffed for breath. "Brendon. What was that?" He didn't need an answer though. Josh had been here long enough to know what the few moments of the shortage of electricity meant every now and then, but he wanted someone to confirm it.

Brendon still held onto Josh, but his grasp loosened just a bit. "It was the chair Josh." He answered.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a comment if you don't hate me. Love you guys.


	12. Wake Up Fine And Dandy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh I'm so sorry i ended the last chapter like that! And that i didn't reply to any of your capitalized comments but i absolutely LOVED them and i kept reading them over and over.
> 
> Thank you so much for the support! And the cancer cover was beautiful.

The world began to spin at Brendon's words as Josh stared blankly at his feet below him. Brendon's arms were the only thing holding him up now. A scene tore through his vision like a flood, overwhelming him with something. It felt like grief.

He saw himself rushing into a room, only welcomed by the horrifying sight of Tyler's lifeless body slumped over in an old chair, strapped in tightly at his feet and wrists. His scarred wrists. A hinged metal helmet laid on his head that covered his ruffled mocha hair. Once beautiful eyes were now closed, hiding behind heavy eyelids.

Josh nearly chocked in distress from his own hallucination after Brendon released him.

"Josh frickn' stand up!" Brendon hissed as Josh crumbled to the floor. "Someone's going to see you!"

Josh let his body lean against the cold wall, steadying himself with his hands clasped tightly to his head, tearing at the roots of his pink hair. What he had just seen in his mind felt all too real. The guard wanted to get up and sprint down the hallways again, but his legs held him back.

"I couldn't find him." He finally breathed.

"All he did was burn a few homes." Brendon knelt down onto the floor in front of Josh and set his helmet down, staring at him with strict eyes. His hands shot up to untangle Josh's shaking fingers out from his hair. "They're not going to send him to the chair for arson, especially if no one died!"

"He probably killed that man in the courtyard." Josh said, shooting down Brendon's hope.

"We don't know that yet."

"He's dead." Josh choked out. "Both of them."

With his eyes squeezed shut and tears beginning to run down his face, it barely occurred to him that something suddenly slapped his face, knocking him out of his daze. His vision cleared and he stared directly at Brendon. Maybe the man had thought that it was possible to slap some sense into Josh so he could start thinking clearly again. It had the opposite effect, though.

"Josh-"

Before Brendon could finish his sentence, Josh's fist shot up and delivered a hard blow directly into the other guard's nose. Brendon tumbled backwards from his kneeling position, hands now propping him up from his spot on the floor. His face screwed up slightly as he raised a hand to wipe away some blood that came down from his nose. He looked down at the red color, then back at  the guard.

"I know you didn't mean that, Josh."

Josh lowered his hand after realizing what he had just done, letting his anger ebb away along with any remaining hope he had that Tyler was fine.

"I know.... I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Brendon sighed, pushing himself up onto his legs. He held out his other hand to Josh.

Josh graciously took it, the guard then jerking him up onto his feet in one swift movement. He stumbled a bit into Brendon at the action, but the man caught him instantly and steadied him.

Leaning his body heavily against the wall, Josh pinched the brim of his nose to stop any more tears from rolling down. They eventually ceased, but all hope had already left his body and distress wracked through his veins.

Why else would Tyler not have been in his cell?

Why else would someone be sent to the chair the day after a bloody fight?

Why else would he feel this sickening pit in his stomach; as sickening as the sound of the  first time he sealed Tyler behind bars with the click of the gate?

His throat tightened. At least he had been good to Tyler in the last twenty-seven days he had been at the prison. He had shown the inmate, the one with the most memorizing scars on his face, that he cared about his well being and that he didn't want to see him go when he starved himself or took a utensil to his wrist. Josh would have been looking toward to the day when Tyler's five years would be up, and then both of them could finally relax whenever their skin touched, far away from the lurking eyes in the prison.

"We're going to see Mark." Brendon suddenly said.

It made Josh's gaze slowly trail back up, meeting Brendon's who looked on until the other finally seemed to compose himself from his deep thoughts.

"Why?"

"Do you really not have the slightest idea why?"

Josh wiped the residue of tears from his cheeks. He shook his head weakly, feeling like an idiot for not knowing something that must have been obvious.

Brendon sighed again, but this time it wasn't out of annoyance. The guard had just realized something, a mellow smile now tracing his lips.

He then grabbed Josh's wrist and dragged him back to cell block B. Stopping Josh right at the entrance, Brendon pointed up to the ceiling. Josh squinted.

Of course.

Security cameras dotted the prison, each one having clear film of the line of cells back and forth. They would have caught where exactly Tyler had been taken since last night, so Josh and Brendon didn't have to stay with their drastic conclusions.

Josh's face crinkled with the same mellow smile Brendon had. It didn't necessarily mean what they were hoping, but it still would show proof of exactly where Tyler had been taken.

"Come on." He said as he hit Brendon's chest lightly, both instantly turning and walking fast down the hallways that eventually led up the stairs into the main passageways. Their feet thudded loudly on the metal balcony floors with each step, echoing throughout the whole cell block. Josh needed to get to the surveillance room as soon as possible; his heart hammering with anxiousness.

They barged open the security room door roughly, clearing scaring the shit out of Mark who was in the middle of drinking a cup of coffee. He spit a good majority of it out and looked at the two guards with wide eyes.

"What's going on?"

Brendon grabbed Josh by the shoulders before the guard had a chance to leap for the security screens containing the precious information.

"Josh's boyfriend is missing." Brendon reported simply with an all knowing smirk plastered on his face.

"Your boyfriend?" Mark questioned. "You mean Tyler?"

"For the last time, he's not my boyfriend." Josh denied, pulling away from Brendon's grasp once again and walking over to Mark.

"Tyler's one of the inmates that came here a few weeks ago, and he's not in his cell anymore."  
   
"Josh thinks that they sent him to the chair not too long ago." Brendon said as he took the seat next to Mark, pulling his legs up to his chest lazily like there was no problem.

Josh himself kneeled down in front of the many screens, gazing around to search for the figure of Tyler. He pulled off his beanie and ruffled the fading pink hair aside.

"Can you pull up any footage from cell block B last night?"

"Yeah, let me see what I can do." Mark began messing with one of the computers on the desk in front of him, clicking away on different files. Eventually, he made it to one file that opened up on one of the nearby screens, pointing at it to show the time. "Ah, that looks like it's around 11pm."

The footage showed the dark cell block, Tyler's cell at the very end and in clear shot  from the angle of the camera. Mark began to speed up the video, pausing it as soon as it showed a figure of a guard stopping in front on the cell.

"Aww." Brendon cooed beside them and Josh realized that the figure was him, giving the paper and charcoal to Tyler the night before.

The two other men looked on with interest at the video: Josh dropping the papers, then the charcoal into the cell, the orange figure inside shifting, and Josh's face crinkling up in a bright smile as he stared inside like he was the most love-struck guy ever.

Josh couldn't stop himself from smiling again when he watched their interaction on the footage, even though Tyler wasn't that visible.

Brendon began to snicker with amusement at the show. "So damn cute."

Josh ignored him, though he wasn't bothered by what Brendon said; because it was true.

"Fast forward, Mark."

The man did so, and a minute or two went by with no activity caught in the whole cell block. It wasn't until they reached some time in the early morning on the video that some figures of guards made their appearance. Mark immediately stopped and resumed the video at normal speed.

It showed three unknown guards stopping in front of the cell; one of them appearing to shout something, then opening the gate and soon pulling out Tyler. They handcuffed his wrists behind his back and proceeded to walk him down the hallway, soon disappearing past the corner. Josh wanted to leap into the screen as the scene unfolded to try to do anything of his power to stop the men from taking Tyler.

Mark began clicking on different videos of the  cameras that would show the route the men were walking. The guards had directed Tyler into a new line of cells in a smaller area below ground level, but the doors had a much different appearance than the gated ones at the higher levels. These ones were solid doors, only a small window visible at eye level.

Josh casted a glance at Mark, seeing that the man had a quizzical look on his face as he scratched his chin in thought.

"Those look like the solitary confinement units."

Josh released the breath he had been holding.

"Didn't I tell you Josh?" Brendon spoke up beside him. "He's fine."

Relief washed over him. Tyler was alright, at least for now. The guard slowly rubbed his eyes as he began to stand up, his anxiety fading away when he thought of Tyler docked away safety in another cell, rather than the electric chair.

"How long do they usually keep them in there?" Josh looked down at Mark.

"Have no idea." Mark shook his head. "It could be a few days to several years."

At that, Brendon stood up from his chair and nudged Josh in the shoulder. "Let's go get Tyler."

Josh nodded and quickly began to follow Brendon out when Mark's voice erupted from behind them. "Wait! I'll come with you guys."

Both Brendon and Josh looked back in slight confusion, but they didn't argue.

  
As they began to make their way to the flight of stairs, Mark had looked over at Brendon, whose nose was now swollen. "Dude what the heck happened to your nose?"

Brendon touched it and Josh looked over guiltily. The cert guard only shrugged. "Ran into a door."

Mark made a face but didn't push for any more answers.

  
The three made proceeded to maneuver through the prison to the lower levels, making sure they weren't too loud when each of their footsteps hit the ground. Josh took the lead and soon picked up his pace to a steady jog. It soon became colder with the air more musky and wet, though the florescent  lights still illuminated above their heads.

Josh was the first to reach the new cell block. He had practically ditched Mark and Brendon when he sprinted the last route, anxiousness to find who he was looking for had become all too strong for him to just jog down the hallways.

He began to check though each cell window, each one looking exactly the same as the other one, so it was difficult to determine which was the specific one they saw in the video. Everytime he opened one, a miserable or menacing face welcomed him and Josh quickly shut it.

By the time he had reached the last cell, Brendon and Mark stumbled in with huffing breaths and nearly collided into one another at the sudden halt. Josh looked at them, hand resting on the sliding panel of the last window. The two guards caught their breaths and steadily neared the cell door to watch.

Josh drew in a shaky breath, slowly opening the panel. His face soon crinkled into a smile and eyes thinned to slits at the sight.

He saw the figure of Tyler comfortably splayed out on the small bed of his cell. He was sleeping soundly, sides rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern. For a second, Josh though he just looked like an ordinary person dressed in baggy orange pajamas, and not a miserable inmate in solitary confinement at a prison.

The breaths of Brendon and Mark swarmed over each of Josh's shoulders as they peered over to look inside at Tyler. Brendon reached out his hand and knocked on the door.

"Wake up sleepyhead!"

Everybody except Brendon winced at his loud voice that was made to sound as annoying as possible. Tyler had freaked out with his arms flailing, and in the next moment he was tumbling off his bed and onto the ground.

Josh laughed out once loudly but quickly covered his mouth to hush himself. It made Tyler freeze and look up from his spot on the ground.

"Josh!" The inmate scrambled up clumsily and lurched for the door, clasping onto the only inch thick bars that separated them. Josh looked down at Tyler's fingers, then back into his eyes to see all the life that had seemed to return in them. They smiled at each other.

"Are you okay?" He asked Tyler, resting a hand near the opening of the panel.

Tyler nodded assuredly. "Yeah." His eyes became glassy and his voice wavered just a bit. "Yeah I'm fine."

"I was so worried. I thought you‒"

Josh stopped when he felt fingers entwine with his. He held them back more tightly and tears were threatening to slide down from his eyes. "I thought you were dead." He finished.

An unspoken understanding passed through them, somewhat solemn, and they stayed silent for a few moments. But Tyler then broke it, a sweet look on his face. "So, you were worried about my little mocha head?"

Josh's eyes widened and he began to chuckle, wiping away the last of his tears. "Yes, I was."

They fell silent again to just stand and look at each other for what felt like the longest time. However, to Josh's disappointment, it was soon disrupted when Brendon cleared his throat behind them. Josh turned around to see Mark a few feet away just standing there awkwardly, while Brendon stood beside him all smug.

"Should we leave, or...?" He ventured.

Josh had almost forgotten that the other two guards were still here, so he shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do next.

Brendon got the gist and surprisingly followed along. "Let's go Mark . They want to be _alonnnne_." He emphasized the last word.

Rather than following Brendon as he turned to go, Mark had stayed and stepped closer to the cell with concerned eyes, studying the inmate inside.

"Tyler?"

Josh returned his gaze to Tyler, whose expression had fallen with realization. Josh, on the other hand, was incredibly confused.

"Mark?" Tyler looked on.

"It's good to see you again," Mark hesitantly came closer to the door so he could see Tyler better. "I just wish it wasn't under these conditions."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Josh piped up, carefully untangling his fingers from Tyler's.

"We knew each other back in Columbus." Tyler finally rasped, Mark nodding in agreement.

Josh exchanged glances between the two, the reason for Mark's reaction when Josh had first mentioned Tyler to him all fell into place. He suspected there had to be a connection between Mark's absence when he first became a correctional officer, and the day Tyler had committed arson. Before Josh could voice his own thoughts, Mark was already at it which fueled Josh's curiosity about the whole situation.

"I tried calling you a lot but you never answered." Mark was saying. "When did all this happen?"

Tyler couldn't seem to meet his gaze anymore, and Josh could sense uneasiness radiating off the inmate like waves at the topic. All of them shifted, waiting for Tyler's response.

"It happened the same night you called."

"Knowing you, you were probably just loitering again." Mark teased in attempt to try to lift up Tyler's spirit.

"Yeah I wish." Tyler forced out a light chuckle in appreciation at what the man was trying to do, but the smiled he forced onto his lips was noticeably fake to all three guards. Mark cleared his throat uncomfortably. Brendon was just there. And Josh still wanted to know the whole story.

Taking a hint that the man behind bars currently didn't want to evaluate much, Mark decided to bid a farewell and leave with Brendon who had stayed uncharacteristically quiet.

"I'll see you around Tyler. Stay out of any more trouble."

Brendon trailed after him, but he casted a quick look back at Tyler and Josh, back in character once again. "Keep it PG, kids." He called, skipping briefly to catch up with Mark. Mark batted at him lightly, both leaving the cell block cackling.

Josh was thankful the atmosphere was lifted up yet again. The air had grown so thick with uncertainty that he felt so much better when he and Tyler were left alone again, both blushing a bit at Brendon's teasing words.

They were alone again.

Josh looked back at Tyler who was already staring at him mindlessly.

"What?" Josh smiled.

Tyler blinked and shook his head. "Sorry, sorry."  
   
"It's okay if you want to stare at me." Josh leaned against the door, their faces mere inches apart. "I really don't mind."

"You would mind if I stared at you all day, because I swear will." Tyler responded, lifting a few fingers through the bars to play with Josh's pink hairs under his beanie. "God, your hair's getting faded dude."

"I know. I just haven't had time to redye it for a while."

"Where do you usually get the dye for it?"

"Sally's."

Tyler snorted loudly, making Josh jump as the inmate tried to contain his laughter. "What's the problem?" Josh flinched when his voice squeaked out the words in defense, but Tyler's laugh was beyond adorable and Josh smiled as he watched him trying to compose himself.

"Nothing." Tyler caught his breath, wiping away tears. "It's just I can imagine you walking into a beauty store like that and just picking up a box of pink hair dye."

Josh shook his head because the sound of Tyler's laugh was the best thing ever. "So if  I picked up a box of blue dye it would be a different story?"

Tyler snickered again and Josh felt his heart swell, wanting to embrace him tightly in his arms and always hear that laugh of his.

He quieted down, to which now Josh had been staring at him in admiration. Their eyes slowly traced over the features of each other's faces until they dropped to their lips, but the bars of the window was still in the way.

"Have you ever dyed it red before?"

"No, actually." Josh had thought about it, but he never did.

Tyler hummed a response and Josh leaned against the panel a bit more, welcoming Tyler's touches that had returned to play with his hair. Eventually he retracted his fingers after a while of silence, Josh leaning up again, disappointed at the loss.

"I'm glad you're safe, Tyler." He murmured.

"Me too."

"And how's your neck now?"

Tyler rubbed the area under his chin, smiling. "It's much better, Josh."

The guard nodded. He noticed Tyler study him, wanting to know exactly what fantasies went through his head whenever they locked eyes.

"Umm," Tyler began hesitantly. "Can you come to the courtyard in a couple days? I mean, when I go back to the old cells?"

Josh smiled and his eyes brightened when he looked at Tyler, whose face was sweet and expecting as he waited for an answer. The scars on his face did nothing to taint the image of how Josh felt about him.

"You know I will, Tyler." Josh answered, having his own romantic fantasies about him run freely behind his eyelids. "You don't even need to ask."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys you know I was never going to do it, how could I? Haehaeheahae. 
> 
> Comment below if you liked it. Again, love you all so much |-/


	13. Headlights Call Our Names

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heay I'm back! And this chap switches in perspectives so just work with me :/ I was going to update yesterday, but an accident happened and I freaken had to write a whole scene over! Tags are updated. 
> 
> The boys did amazing on SNL!
> 
> Vinyl Theatre will be referenced briefly. Also I made a slushieguys video into a sad story you're welcome.

 

Tyler dreamed of Josh that night. Though he wished he hadn't, since he had woken up incredibly disturbed by the whole thing in the morning.

He wouldn't doubt he dreamed of it because he missed the outside world, but it was mostly because the face of a pink haired man always came back to fill his mind with hope. He was, in a strange way, a beacon that always managed to come back to him when he was on the brink of letting darker thoughts consume him. At certain points, he thought he should just end it all with a spiky piece of white plastic you can get at the lunch hall. But Josh always came back, and that was enough to stop him from going through with it anymore. Tyler had decided he was at peace with himself for now, because of Josh.

He shifted stiffly onto his side and tried to calm his heartbeat while kneading his lip uneasily, still thinking of Josh who always had a perfect appearance radiating off of him. Closing his eyes, he welcomed any more sleep he could get before the sun would come up. Though he had no idea what time it was currently, only knowing it was still early because the lights in the cells were still turned off; there were no windows in the claustrophobic room. But when his eyes closed, the dream replayed like a tv that he was forced to watch and believe anything that it showed. His brain just deciding to push the memory forward and accept the replay.

_Tyler dreamt he was staring at Josh sit quietly in a chair outside of an office along the main hallways. The man casted glances to his left and right, back hunched, fingers clasped. Tyler felt like he was looking in a mirror, reflecting what he guessed he looked like most of the time in his cell. Though Josh wasn't wearing his standard guard uniform, but rather the black attire of the cert guards like Brendon._

_The inmate didn't hesitate to walk over to the guard, eager to talk to him even though something didn't feel quite right. It spooked him for a moment, but now he stood over Josh with his heart racing from being so close to him._

_"Josh?"_

_Josh paid no mind to him, as if he was a mere apparition. Tyler eyed him a moment longer before he knelt down and placed a hand on his knee, sending an addicting pulse through him at the contact. He looked up at Josh._

_A thin line of blood tricked down Josh's forehead, merging with his pink hair._

_"Josh!_

_He was thrown back into the corners of his cell. He must of looked insane as he frantically looked around at his four walls, in desperate need to know where Josh was. A bright orange light began to radiate from around the corner, so Tyler picked himself up quickly to grab the bars of his cell door. He almost didn't believe that he was now seeing Josh moving past the line of cells on a platform, hitting the drums rhythmically in front of him._

_Tyler was staring with wide eyes at him, expecting the guard dressed in all black to stop. So when he didn't, Tyler panicked. "Josh! Wait!" He shook the gate to produce a harsh banging sound of metal in attempt to get Josh's attention._

_"Josh come back! Wait for me!" Tyler shrieked, but the sound of Josh's drums were now fading._

_Something then yanked him back sharply, throwing him down onto the ground with a thud. He moaned in discomfort, but he kept his eyes close in fear of what else his dream had to other. Breathing in and out jaggedly while he still thought of Josh, he let his arm fall limply from his chest and drop onto the ground. His hand grazed over the rough surface as he inhaled the faded smell of rubber that was emitted from it._

_"How long will you live in prison?" An unknown voice mumbled._

_Tyler groaned in response, but he finally opened his eyes. He was met by the sight of bright constellations dotted the darkness of the sky above him. Craning his head over, his face grew warm when he saw Josh laying next to him asleep on a long span of road in the middle of nowhere. Josh couldn't have looked more peaceful unless he was dead. But he wasn't, because Tyler could see his chest rising and falling steadily._

_"Five years." Tyler finally decided to answer the disembodied voice he had almost forgotten he heard._

_"That long?" It spoke again, more muffled this time._

_Tyler continued to gaze at the man beside him, finding it so foreign that Josh was now wearing jeans and a hoodie. His eyelids were closed and a small smile of content plastered his lips as he continued to sleep soundly._

_"Of course. I have Josh." Tyler rasped to the voice._

_"That's right." Josh now whispered, his crinkly-eyed smile rose on his lips at Tyler's words._

_Oh God, he was making it difficult for Tyler not to leap over onto him. But right when the idea crossed his mind, another beam of bright lights cut the air from his other side. Shooting himself up quickly, he was met head on by a pair of headlights seconds away from hitting him. His mouth gapped open in a silent scream when they called his name._

The replay of the dream finally stopped as the lights of the cell turned on. He blinked,  almost blinded by the new type of light since his eyes were used to the darkness. He lifted himself up from his bed and stretched stiffly, mostly just to take his mind off of the last second of his dream.

Footsteps began to be heard down the hall, and Tyler silently thanked God he would be going back to the old cell block soon.

♢     ♢     ♢

Two guards had taken him back, but not into to the same cell he originally had. He guessed another inmate had taken residence in his old one, and he decide he was fine with that. The routine would go back to normal soon.

He had just sat in silence for a couple hours after being transferred back before another sound gradually drew louder as it neared. For a second he thought he was about to experience the reality of his dream and soon stare bewildered at Josh on his moving platform, drumming away unfazed. Though to his relief, that didn't happen. Instead, a cart wheeled into view in front of his cell and stopped. A blond about the same age as Josh welcomed him with a smile.

"Hello." The cart he had been wheeling was stacked with a variety of books, all forms of literature looking very old and worn. "Care for any books sir?"

Tyler recognized the man's position as one of the other workers in the prison who were not exposed to as much danger as the guards. They were usually the ones that managed just the commissary or other facilities of the prison. Instead of the protective uniforms the guards had, he wore a slim white shirt and a pair of grey khakis; no weapons to defend himself or anything.

"No, not really." Tyler answered absently and raised his knees to his chest to get more comfortable.

The man shifted. "Look it's my job to make sure you guys don't get bored here so nobody starts a riot. I know it can be dull here sometimes." There was a hint of humor in his statement and Tyler felt himself relaxing.

Sighing, Tyler slowly dragged his eyes over the books. He was still haunted by his dream, really just waiting to be let out into the courtyard for the first time in days so he could see Josh. "I don't know. I really don't feel like reading."

The blond didn't seem to hear him as he began to rummage through the lines of books, checking the covers for anything that might suit the man in orange.

"Ever read Arthur Miller?"

"I read The Crucible back in high school; that's about it." Tyler sat up more straight on his bedside to see what the man was now pulling out of the cart.

"How about this?"

He showed Tyler the cover of a thin book he held. It was of a picture of a plane's silhouette in the sky, made to look vintage and worn. The lettering was in white and silver.

"Never read that before." Tyler stated, looking it over carefully.

The blond waved the book a bit, encouraging Tyler to take it. "You want it or not?"

Reaching up, Tyler took the book in his hands and in through the cell bars to his side. He hadn't really read in a while and rather just have some more papers and charcoal to decorate his cell again, but the book had a tug on his interest. "Um, thank you..."

"I'm Keegan. Enjoy the book Tyler."

Tyler scoffed. "Why does everybody seem to know me now?"

The corner of Keegan's lip stretched up in a grin and just shrugged.

  
♢     ♢     ♢

  
"So you're back in your cell block?"

Tyler nodded as Josh took his place on the ground beside him. He tried to ignore the fence between them, and the course grass dying beneath his feet. "It feels good to be back at 'home sweet home'." He shot Josh a smile, met by those wonderful eyes of his.

Josh smiled back sweetly, relief seeming to be evident that Tyler was getting more of his spirit back. "Some dipcrap is now in your old cell. He tore down your coal drawings and I was just about to take a swing at him if he wasn't in there."

Tyler made a noise of amusement, his face warming up from both the what Josh had said and the fact that it was incredibly hot outside. It was the first day of August after all. In just a few more days, it would be a month since he arrived at the prison.

Looking over at Josh who was staring down at his lap playing with a blade of grass, Tyler noticed his uniform sleeves were now short sleeved, ending at the middle of his bicep. It was the first time he saw the bare skin of Josh's arms, which were incredibly muscular. Beautiful colors of greens, oranges, and blues lingered on his whole right arm as a sleeve.

"Dude." Tyler pointed at the artwork engraved on the arm. "That's amazing."

Josh was confused at first until he looked at what Tyler was pointing at. "Oh this?" He reached over his other arm to graze his fingers down the tattoos. "Yeah, I had it for a while now."

"It's so sick."

"Thanks." The guard's face crinkled again, noticeably tinting pink. Tyler took the sight of his smile all in, because it was just so lovely.

The guard went back to play with the long grass again. When his smile eased, Tyler returned his attention down to the book Keegan had given him. He snuck it out of his cell by stuffing it into the deep pockets of his orange scrubs, now turning the pages and continuing to read where he guessed he left off.

Josh turned to look at Tyler after a comfortable stretch of silence settled down amongst them. He saw the inmate was reading something and it was clear Josh became interested in whatever it was.

"What are you reading Ty?"

Tyler looked up quickly, already expecting Josh to ask. He flipped over the book and showed him the cover.

"All My Sons." Josh read.

Tyler nodded and looked at the cover again. "Some guy named Keegan gave it to me."

"Yeah. I know Keegan."

"How the heck does he know me?" Tyler pressed teasingly. "He called me Tyler right before he left."

  
Josh shrugged and played with his black ear gauge as he looked at nothing in particular, trying to find the right way to word it was because everyone was beginning to notice how the two interacted. He was scared to confess that he hadn't been too discreet anymore whenever he met up with Tyler. After all, he was sitting leisurely beside him right now where anyone, including the guards, could see. "Your name seemed to spread fast around here; especially after that fight." He settled with that, though it was only filled with half truth.

  
Tyler shifted, wanting to change the topic back. "So how do you know Keegan?" He played with the skin around his neck to see if the nail indentations had vanished.

"Well he occasionally goes around offering books to the inmates every now and then." Josh began to explain. "He's been here a while ever since....."

Tyler didn't really process what Josh was saying anymore. He found his eyes dragging back down to the beautiful art on the guard's arm, Josh's mouth running mutely in the corner of his vision. As he got a better look at it, it became clear it was a tree in the foreground of a sunset of colors. The green foliage contrasted perfectly with Josh's lighter skin tone.

  
Josh was still talking. "So he and his friends eventually escaped out of that place and began to work here―"

The guard stopped to look at the hand now reaching through the fence webbing to touch the colorful skin of his arm. It sent a shiver through his blood at the contact as Tyler's fingers ghosted over the ink in admiration.

"Tyler?"

Tyler's eyes flickered up, but he kept his hand on Josh's forearm and hummed.

Josh smiled. "You really like it, huh?"

Tyler's face flushed a bit, smiling back to answer an unmistakable yes. "Does it go all the way up to your shoulder?"

Amused, Josh scooted closer to the fence so Tyler could reach better. "Yeah, but it's different colors."

"Can I see?"

Josh lifted up his sleeve up to show the blues and yellows of his spiral galaxy tattoo. Tyler's eyes lit up and his eyebrows raised high as he stared. It made Josh proud of the artwork, to have someone gawk at it like Tyler was currently doing. Oh how Tyler looked at it with so much admiration melted his heart to the core. His expression was a thousand times more captivating than Josh's own tattoos could ever be.

"It's so cool Josh."

"Tyler." Josh felt himself changing onto a new topic. Besides welcoming Tyler's touches on his arm and the heavy air from them being so close, he was compelled to bring up more of what happened before Tyler was arrested. It bothered him for some reason that Mark knew more about what drove Tyler to do what he did several months ago that led him to live a life a prison.

"Are you going to tell me more about what happened before you got arrested?"

Tyler tensed up beside him. Right before he pulled his hand away from Josh's skin, Josh could feel an uneasy energy go through Tyler's fingertips.

"What do want to know?"

"You knew Mark back in Columbus and he called you the night you attempted suicide."

Tyler flinched when he said that word, guessing he didn't like summing up his actions in that way, in that phrase. After a few moments, Josh instantly regretted asking and felt his heart sink when he saw Tyler's eyes become glassy.

"Oh no, Tyler I'm sorry I shouldn't hav—"

"Josh you deserve to know." Tyler interrupted in a wavering voice. "It's just it was hard for me a few months before I burned the tree house because I was dealing with the fact that I had just killed my friend."

Josh stared at Tyler, ashamed that he must have looked so horrified at what Tyler just confessed to him. Tyler saw this and hurt was evident, because now he looked away quickly and hid his face.

All Josh could do was stutter. "I-I didn't know."

"It's not like I wanted to." Tyler began to fold some of the pages of All My Sons out of impulse. "I never meant to, it was all such a  horrible thing I should have been aware would happen."

Tyler stopped, looking over at Josh to see his reaction. Josh felt sympathy enfold him to listen, wanting Tyler to continue so he could understand what he was going through.

The inmate returned his gaze back to the book that was now becoming crumpled in his lap, grateful that Josh was giving him a chance to explain.

"We had gotten these long boards we had for a while and finally decided to ride them down the roads on the hills, like we saw some other guys in our neighborhood do before. He wanted to ride first while I drove ahead to film him. I had a few cameras set up to shoot on the passenger side and through the back window." Tyler swallowed. "Um, and we were halfway down when I switched into the opposite lane to get a side shot of him. I didn't even see the other car coming until the last second, and I panicked and swerved because I was thinking of my own life first."

The inmate paused. Josh felt his own throat tightening because of the sadness and guilt he could feel swarm over Tyler.

"Next thing I knew his body was crashing through the side window of the back seat." Tyler let his grasp go of the book and made an effort to straighten out the creases. "He wasn't alive the next day."

Josh never wanted to hug Tyler so badly, to tell him everything was all right and that he was here for him. But he couldn't embrace him; Josh was a guard on one side and Tyler was an inmate on the other. Now he didn't know what he could say that would possibly  be comforting.

"I screw all my friends." Tyler then drew in a shaky breath. "How could I do those things to them?"

"You never meant to hurt them Tyler."

Tyler shook his head. "But I did anyway, and that matters more."

"I know you think that, but you know it wasn't intentional." Josh stared at him, wanting him to believe that it was just an awful mistake that happened that day. "I'm so sorry."

"I screwed up my whole life." He could just barely hear Tyler mumble behind his hands.

Josh slid his hand through the fencing and placed it on Tyler's knee. Tyler flinched, but then uncovered his face to stare at the hand Josh had guessed he loved.

"I'm here for you Tyler."

They locked eyes and pure empathy and admiration passed between them. It hurt Josh even more that he couldn't pull Tyler close or kiss his cheek the way he did a couple days ago.

"Thank you." Was all that Tyler said, but as genuinely as it could possibly be.

Josh smiled and relished the sight of Tyler all before he began to hear some voices picking up from the direction of the courtyard. Some inmates were watching from afar and yelling something incoherent to them. Tyler tensed up and the two stood up quickly.

Hands grasped Josh's shoulders lightly, but then strongly pulled him back from the fence line. Josh met the unreadable face of Mark as the man led him away uneasily. Josh shot Tyler one last glance, who was now staring back at him and Mark in concern as the distance spread between them. It occurred to Josh this was probably the first time he saw Mark since the accident.

"What the heck Mark?" Josh stumbled a bit as the man continued to walk him away.

Mark cleared his throat. "I need to talk to you." He said, glancing back at his old friend dressed in the orange scrubs, standing deathly still at the fence line.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh I hope this chapter wasn't too bad. Can't thank you guys enough for all your support <3
> 
> Life is up here ^ but comment beloww and subscribe if u liked it :)


	14. Wordless Paintings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much else to say because recently I saw something that was said about this, but Ima just push through it.
> 
> Holy crap I almost posted an unfinished chapter the other day

Mark pulled Josh along like a father dragging his kid away from something it wanted so badly. Tyler is what he wanted so badly now, like candy or a drug he was never meant to have but always needed. Why did Tyler always have to be so addicting?

  
Embarrassment replaced his utter confusion as Mark's fingers dug into his wrists and flattened his veins that fought to pop out from struggling. The two men entered back into the prison and were passing guards who looked on with curiosity and mild interest. Josh bit his lip when he felt his face grow warm, deciding to step into pace beside Mark to try to hide the hand that was still squeezing the life out of his arm.

  
"Ouch." Josh said plainly to the security guard, hinting for him to let the fuck go, but Mark said nothing. The occasional guard they passed as they made their way down the hallways just eyed them suspiciously, then continued on with no question.

  
"You're becoming really fucking careless." The sudden words Mark somehow managed to hiss gently brought Josh's attention up from looking down at his feet. The guard stopped and turned to look at him when the hallway they were in seemed deserted and silent. Josh thought of when he used to like walking down here alone, and Brendon would sometimes scare him when all he wanted was to clear his mind of his job. Now he was back down here just to be hissed at.

  
Mark let go of his arm.

  
"What's this about?" Josh asked, shoving his cold hands into his pockets when some water dripped onto his arm.

  
"Josh I think you know what I'm going at."

"Tyler and I?"

"Yes."

"And the problem?"

"Josh."

"Mark."

  
"Are you really so oblivious to this?" Mark raised his voice and Josh felt himself recoil at the man that he thought would always be so chill and would just joke around whenever he felt annoyed.

  
"Mark why are you acting like this now?" Josh asked lightly, too dazed to be irritated at him yet.

  
Mark sighed at dragged a hand down his face. "Because Brendon told me about how you freaked out and shrieked for Tyler the other day, and now you're not even giving a damn if you're sitting beside him outside where all the guards and inmates can see you interact!"

  
Josh furrowed his eyebrows, suddenly feeling anger and defensiveness for Tyler roll over him. "It's their problem if they have a problem with it!" He lashed out, honestly quite surprised with himself.

  
"For fuck's sake it's against prison regulations!" Mark bit back. "Did you even notice how the inmates were shouting at you?"

  
Josh didn't answer, hiding his hands deeper into his pockets. "I'm not ditching Tyler just because people here don't like it. You can't convince me otherwise."

  
Mark started pacing from wall to wall in irritation. "The wardens' going to notice sooner or later, Josh." He huffed.

  
"No one besides you has come to tell me to knock it off yet, so lets just drop it!" Josh turned sharply and made an effort to leave, but Mark refused to let him and grabbed his forearm, yanking him back.

  
"I don't know why I have to spell it out for you now that this is b-a-d!" His other hand thrust down in thin air at each letter he spelled, his gaze burning so intently that Josh had to look away from the array of emotions mixing within them. Emotions that were tied with the memories Mark and Tyler had shared in the past as friends, disrupted when Tyler was sentenced to prison. Mark having no knowledge of it until a day or so ago. Now it made sense why he was acting like this, but Josh was equally upset.

  
"Go back to the security room." Josh pulled his arm free, hoping that this lecture was over.

  
Mark kept going. "No wonder that fight broke out the other day, they were pissed that a prisoner was singing to a guard when it broke the rules inmates establish within their little prison community!"

  
"Stop!" Josh felt water now dripping onto his face, taking a step away from where he thought it was coming from. Only when he dragged a hand down his cheek did he realize it was not dripping water, but some tears. "Just stop." He swallowed, and he heard Mark catching his breath from his previous rambling.

  
"I'm just looking out for you. I know Tyler and how attached he can get to anything he cares about." Mark took a step back to give Josh's personal space back.

  
Josh looked up at him.

  
"I know how he feels about you," Mark was calm now, face solemn but Josh felt his heart twinge at the words of confirmation. "But Josh you just can't befriend the inmates like this. It's going to lead to trouble. Even Brendon has begun to think so; he told me."

  
"Then he can tell me that himself. Tyler's still a human being."

  
"Yes, but he's become a heathen; that's what he is now in the eyes of all the others."

  
All Josh could do was stare. It hadn't occurred to him clearly that Tyler was viewed as just another prisoner or even a misfit. But a heathen is not what Josh saw him as; Tyler was just troubled by what had happened months ago in Columbus.

  
Mark noticed Josh thinking about it just by looking into his eyes and continued. "Look, I know I haven't known you for long, but I'm glad that you care so much about Tyler. I care about him too! I've known him for so long it's hard to believe a friend of mine is locked up here now. And it hurts! I want to know that he's safe too and I would do anything to help him, but its different now that he's in prison. At certain times, you just have to keep your distance."

  
His words came out like a jumble of flies and cobwebs that Josh had to take a moment and absorb everything he had just said. Both of them cared about the welfare of Tyler, however Josh was especially concerned with his emotional state that would definitely lead to an impact on his health.

  
Josh looked back up at Mark who had grown quite. "Can you leave me alone now?"

  
Mark hesitated, mouth parting to say another paragraph of his, but realized there was not much more to say. "Yeah." He settled on that, his shoulders dropping. "I'm just looking out for the both of you." He repeated.

  
"I know." Josh rasped, briefly nodding to the other before he turned and left again. This time, Mark didn't attempt to haul him back.

  
♢ ♢ ♢

 

Josh decided not to go back to the courtyard. He retreated back up the cold hallways to let Mark go back to the security room while he settled on just going to the guards' cafeteria to get lunch before he went back on duty, just to allow himself to take a breath from what what going through his head.

  
Josh concluded that it was just in his being that he got spooked so often by running into people in the hallways, he just seemed to be prone to it now. So when he turned the corner of the hallway and slammed into another body, it didn't really faze him as both grunted when their foreheads hit.

  
"Sorry!" Josh said apologetically and readjusted his beanie.

  
The shorter man he ran into scratched his head and knitted his eyebrows together in irritation, dressed in a white shirt and grey pants. He blinked after his vision cleared, looking at Josh and seemingly recognizing him instantly. "Josh! Just the man we need!" He claimed cheerfully, and Josh remembered it was Keegan.

  
Josh looked behind him and saw Awsten appear happily from farther down the hallway. The blond quickly jogged up to meet the other two with a smile.

"Oh God, finally. I though we would have to ask those snobs down in the break room." He held out a hand to Josh as a friendly welcome. "Nice to see you again Josh."

  
"You too." Josh shook his hand and smiled back.

  
Keegan sighed. "Come on the other guards aren't all bad, Awsten."

  
Awsten shook his head in disagreement. "Well they don't like us that's for sure."

  
"They're just jealous of our clothes." Keegan pulled at the rim of his grey khakis and Awsten snorted. It just occurred to Josh that both of them were wearing the same outfit since they had the same jobs in the prison.

  
Awsten looked back up at the guard. "Josh, you're coming with us."

  
"What do you guys need?"

  
"We need one more person to guard the art program with us, and fast because they'll be letting the inmates back in from the courtyard in a few minutes."

  
"We only have Brendon who volunteered." Keegan added. "Say do you know what happened to his nose? It was all swollen."

  
Josh shrugged, trying not to let the guilt show.

  
Keegan just pursed his lips and shot Awsten a brief look like he knew Josh wasn't telling them everything, but they soon forgot about it.

  
"So you want to help us?" Awsten asked. "Come on, it'll be fine."

  
Josh debated it for a moment longer before he decided he could put off eating until later. He thought about going to see Tyler in his cell soon after the inmates had to be let back into the prison, but Mark had just finished telling him to keep his distance occasionally. "I guess I don't have much else to do anyway, so yeah."

 

Josh never guarded in on any of the inmate programs before, and quite honestly it felt very uncomfortable. He didn't know if Awsten or Keegan who were setting up canvases and paints in the room felt the same way, so he just tried to ignore it. He was a prison guard who didn't like being around inmates, except for Tyler, and he had to hide that.

  
A sudden smack on the doorway notified the three of them that Brendon had arrived. The guard had walked into the room hitting the door frame in sync with a beat that was probably going through his head. "Hey guys!" He took off his helmet and walked over to give Awsten and Keegan a high-five.

  
Josh smiled as best he could when Brendon came over to give him the friendly gesture. "Hey man." He said as he hit their hands together. He was thinking about how the cert guard was now on Mark's side about the supposed problem with hanging with Tyler, but he tried to convince himself it was because Brendon was just worried about him too. It took Josh a couple seconds to become aware that the guard was eyeing him down.

  
"Did Mark talk to you?" The taller man asked, though it wasn't really a question, but more of a confirmation that Mark did.

  
The other guard nodded, not really knowing what to say. He noticed Keegan and Awsten were observing and standing awkwardly behind them, casting glances between the two of them again as silent seconds passed.

  
Brendon looked like he was about to say something when the sound of clustering people coming down the hallway cut him off. The inmates were arriving so both guards readied themselves, Brendon slipping his helmet back on and lowering his visor as he made his way to the opposite end of the room.

  
As the inmates walked in loudly, a part of him already knew that Tyler would be amongst them. Of course he would have. The men were being let in from the courtyard, Josh was here out of chance, and behind the heads of the men in orange, Brendon's grinning face had wavered a bit when Tyler shuffled in with the others.

  
The inmate spotted Josh almost instantly and the two locked eyes. Though when Josh let a crinkly smile spread across his lips, his next move was flinging his arms out to catch Tyler when the other's own feet seemed to trip him. He caught Tyler quickly before he hit the ground, the inmate latching onto his arms for safety. Face reddened, Tyler pulled himself up and detached himself from Josh's lingering hands as a few of the prisoners cackled at his expense. Josh felt himself staring at Tyler's incredibly embarrassed look when he settled down into one chair in the back. The whole thing happened in just a matter of four seconds, and the urge to hold onto him like that again became so intense.

  
When Josh looked around, he saw that Brendon was holding a hand to his mouth under his helmet as his shoulders bounced. It was clear he was laughing mutely, Josh feeling his own face tinting a shade of pink now.

  
Awsten went on to do his short but motivational introduction to the class of tough looking criminals. It was about how art could help anyone open up and "build a better character." The words the blond spoke were definitely from a script handed to him by his supervisor to recite. Meanwhile, Keegan walked around to hand out some more painting supplies and the whole atmosphere became strikingly similar to that of a kindergarten. It made Josh smile when he caught sight of Tyler's look that was so unimpressed that it revealed he was already sick of his activity before it even started.

  
None of the inmates were allowed to use paintbrushes since anyone of them could snap and use the tool to gouge Keegan, Awsten, Josh, or Brendon's eyes out in a heartbeat; so they had to use their hands. Having full grown men finger-painting must be the prison's way of keeping things safe as possible while also degrading the inmates' dignity from previously having such tough reputations.

  
Josh dragged his attention back to Tyler who was still hunched over in the back row by himself. The inmate reluctantly pawed at the paints in front of him while the rest of the inmates began to smear colors on the canvases.

  
Walking over quietly, he stopped beside Tyler to peek over his shoulder. Tyler shifted to look when he felt the presence of the guard watching him while his idle hands refused to make contact with the cold paints. Josh delivered the crinkly smile of his once again.

  
Tyler bit his lip while he stared at him."This is so lame." He retorted and turned back to the blank canvas.

  
"Just because you can't use a brush doesn't mean that it has to be lame." Josh chuckled before stepping right beside Tyler.

  
"It's finger painting, Josh." The inmate took hold of one of the containers of paint to gaze down into the blue.

  
"Yeah. So what?"

  
Tyler just mumbled in response and set down the container.

  
"Just try." Josh urged. "You made those drawings in your cell."

  
Tyler just rested his chin in the palm of his hand, staring at nothing in particular anymore.

  
"Please." Josh fussed with his best pleading expression.

  
The inmate sighed. "Alright." Though instead of using his right hand, he speared it to keep it clean and dipped his left fingers lightly in a random color, which just so happened to be black

 

Pulling a stool over carefully, Josh settled himself down to sit incredibly close to him. He felt the other tense up, but when Josh looked over at him, Tyler was grinning widely while he still bit a piece of his bottom lip and looked down. Josh smiled, wanting to know exactly what thoughts were running through his head. "What are you going to paint?"

  
"I don't know." Tyler stirred the paint with his thumb and index finger, then raised it up to watch the blackness drip from his skin and back into the cup. He soon began to smear the liquid around with his thumb to contaminate most of his hand. Josh felt himself staring at the action as the hand darkened.

  
"How about a person?"

  
Tyler broke his gaze away from the paint to look at Josh. "You mean like you?" He smirked, getting the idea Josh was hinting.

  
Though Josh just shrugged innocently. "You said it not me."

  
"You're just dying to be painted with that smile you're pulling." Pointing his messy hand to indicate the guard.

  
Josh watched Tyler for several minutes as the inmate dragged his finger over the white of the canvas to construct a figure than was made to look like Josh in his black guard uniform. He liked that he could actually see Tyler draw now because his coal drawings had always looked so intricate with a deeper meaning hidden within them. He wondered if Tyler would draw them again since he was back in a regular cell.

  
"Hey, why did Mark pull you aside earlier?" Tyler suddenly asked as Josh still observed, though his focus was still on painting.

  
Josh shifted, debating what to say to Tyler. But he couldn't think of a good way to put that he was pulled aside to be told that being close to Tyler was a "b-a-d" idea, as Mark liked to put it.

  
"Just...Don't worry about it." Josh replied. "It was just Mark being Mark."

  
Tyler smiled at that, though when he stopped painting right after he used his fingernails to draw a face, Josh looked over in confusion at him. The guy retracted his hand back to stare at the drawing, then looked down at the arrangements of paints.

  
Josh looked at the paints too. "What's wrong?"

  
Tyler turned his head to look at Josh up and down until his eyes settled on the tuft of hair from under his grey beanie. A few seconds passed before his shoulders slumped and he returned his gaze back to the paints in disappointment.

  
"I can't paint your hair." Tyler hunched over in his seat again, obviously discouraged. "There's no pink."

  
Josh felt his heart race that Tyler was that intent on getting every scrap of detail of Josh to accurately paint. "You can just mix white paint with the red."

  
"There's no white either Josh."

  
Thinking as his eyes trailed over the materials in front of Tyler, he noticed Tyler's right hand was still completely clean as it rested in his lap. The inmate was now staring at what he had just painted, the picture looking so incomplete without an extra color.

  
Without letting himself time to hesitate, Josh reached over to gently take hold of Tyler's right hand from his lap, playing with his fingers lightly. Tyler watched his every move as Josh guided the other's arm to dip his fingertips into a certain color. The hand of his felt so delicate clasped within his own stronger hand that Josh was afraid he might break it. Letting go, he let Tyler pull his fingers out from the container of paint, studying the new color.

  
"Just red?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah dude."

  
A smile immediately broke out on Tyler's face as realization passed through him, and Josh smiled back too when Tyler added the red to the canvas, right on top of the newly drawn face.

  
"I look so hot." Josh stated cheekily when he finished, letting himself slightly rest his chin on Tyler's shoulder as he leaned over to get a better look. He didn't even realize his hand had slithered over to hesitantly touch Tyler's waist, then moving down to his hip. Tyler yelped quietly at the contact and Josh's eyes widened at the noise he just made. Embarrassed, Tyler quickly distracted Josh by bopping him on the nose with his right hand to leave a dot of red paint there. Josh jumped back from him, startled but amused at the same time.

  
"Hey!" He whined quietly, just loud enough for the inmate to hear him who smiled mischievously. Josh could tell that he wanted to continue to playfully joke around, but a quick look at Brendon told him not reach his hand into a paint container and wipe it down Tyler's face like a wedding cake.

 

Tyler delivered another stain of paint on Josh's cheek to get his attention back.

  
"Tyler!"

  
Tyler started to cackle in a hushed sound and the next thing Josh knew, he was reaching for Tyler's left hand and swiping it down the inmate's cheek to make a clear hand print.

  
"Josh!"

"You deserve it!"

  
"Dude how am I supposed to clean this off?" Out of habit, Tyler tried to wipe off the paint with his hand, but ended up just smearing even more of it onto his face. He gasped dramatically while it was Josh's turn to laugh.

  
"Josh help me out!"

  
"Alright alright, hold on." Josh studied Tyler's face and wiped at his skin, but it wasn't really getting the paint off. He looked around until he spotted a rag on the table against the wall and took it to start wiping Tyler's face, puting a hand on the other's shoulder to steady him. Though he groaned in annoyance, Tyler never broke his gaze away from Josh as he helped him. His mouth was locked in a grimace, but his eyes revealed how much he was enjoying this.

  
"There. Is that better?" Josh finished cleaning off the mix of black and red paint, and Tyler rubbed that side of his cheek against his shoulder to get any residue off.

  
"Yeah." Tyler smiled again. "Thanks."

  
Tossing the rag aside, Josh noticed Tyler was now gazing at him with a smirk that was so wide that you could just feel the teasing that was in it. Josh furrowed his eyebrows because now he didn't know what the heck Tyler was finding so priceless.

  
"What?" Josh asked, trying to sound like he was defending himself against whatever Tyler was grinning at.

  
"Nothing." Tyler forced a straight face, but it soon dissolved again into a smile. "Nothing."

  
Josh didn't believe him, but he couldn't object further since the class was now ending. Inmates shifted out of their seats after Awsten and Keegan concluded their course and had everyone leave, keeping the paintings in the room.

  
Tyler looked up at the guard who was now standing out of his chair to let him pass and follow the rest of the inmates out. "Bye Josh."

  
"Bye." Josh's eyes thinned when his smile pressed his cheeks up. He casted a glance down to the mess of black and red paint that was still evident on Tyler's hands as the inmate made his way out. It made him appreciate his short burst of liveliness even more.

  
Josh took a moment to stare at the picture Tyler had painted of him before he started to leave the room, saying goodbye to Awsten and Keegan. Brendon followed him out and appeared at his side when they were further down the hallway. The guard looked over at him with the same grin Tyler was pulling.

  
"You know," Brendon began, pure tease in his voice. "It's hard to say 'stay away from Tyler' to you when you look so cute right now."

  
Josh looked over in confusement. "How?"

  
Brendon then reached up to brush his hand firmly across Josh's nose and then his cheek, red paint stained on his skin as he pulled away to show Josh.

  
"That's how. Now, 'stay away from Tyler' " Brendon gave one last smile before he turned away into another hallway for his next duty, leaving Josh alone with his thoughts.

  
Josh debated a moment longer before he finally decided where he would go after his shift ended for the day. Tyler's painting, like his coal drawings, meant something that Josh hadn't even realized he subconsciously hinted.

  
There was a beauty supply place on the other side of town, which had countless varieties of different hair dyes.


	15. Standing In Front Of You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyy I'm back after my new motivation started kicking me around. It's time to start listening to Oh, Ms. Believer.

Here Josh was again, standing in front of the rows of so many colorful boxes of dyes in the fifth aisle. It overwhelmed him, and in some ways confused him, but he already knew what color he wanted.

His eyes fell on an orange box, of course, reminding him of Tyler. He thought if how the inmate's painting would have looked more complete if he had painted an orange figure next to the black one with a red spot of hair. He smiled when he thought about Tyler swiping his finger across his cheek with the coolness of the paint, Josh himself had been so stricken from the action and having the urge to collide into Tyler that he had completely forgotten about the mess on his face.

Even wiping the paint off of Tyler's face with an old rag, hand touching his shoulder, was enough to distract Josh.

He smiled and made a noise of amusement, causing a couple customers nearby to eye him weirdly. Looking around at them, he shook his head to clear his thoughts. Picking up a red box, he paid the clerk, and left to rush home.

He had remembered coming in the store several months ago to buy a box of pink dye, getting really tired of his fading teal blue hair. He liked to change his hair color often, so at the rate he was going, he figured his top hair will be completely dry and dead by the end of the year. He bleached it more times than he could remember, but he decided not to this time since his hair was such a light shade of pink it could easily be dyed to a pure red.

Ruffling a tuft of it, he wondered for a moment what he would look like with blond hair.

No. Not today. Today, it was going to be red.

Grabbing a pair of plastic gloves, paper towels, and a bowl, he set up the supplies on his bathroom counter and immediately began to work his hair into the liquid in his palms. He stoked his fingers through it to make sure he got every faded pink strand stained red and pure.

After letting it sit for a while to get it the most vibrant shade of red, he took a cool shower to wash everything out. When he stepped out, it made his heart lift when he looked in the mirror and saw his reflection, his hair now matching Tyler's painting.

Tyler was going to love it.

Smiling, he grabbed a towel to tie around his waist and made his way to the living room. The light on his home phone receiver was blinking, indicating a new message must have been left while he was in the shower.

He guessed it must have been Brendon again, who often times left so many pointless messages on nights he was drunk, that Josh had gotten used to them. He pressed the button mindlessly and turned to do other things while he listened, wishing he could hear Tyler's recorded voice instead, even though that was far fetched.

But not as far fetched as the message that now played, stopping Josh dead in his tracks. The person who left the message wasn't the strange thing, but what she was saying. It was the last place he thought it would be from.

"Hello Mr. Dun. This is Ohio Penitentiary calling from the request of Warden Heaton. This call was made in regards to an incident that had occurred earlier in the week which our sources say you were one of the guards involved in containing the situation. The Warden has requested to see you at your earliest convenience tomorrow morning to discuss this matter. Please be present in his office after you have clocked in for the day. Thank you, and have a very nice da‒"

Josh deleted the message, swallowing hard.

The fight.

He had almost forgotten about it, though it was only mere days ago. So much had happened ever since Tyler almost got maimed by that inmate, not sure if the nail indentations had disappeared yet on his neck skin what were once so sore and red.

And that phone call wasn't a good sign.

He was sure that that fight wasn't the only thing Heaton wanted to see him about. Anyone could have reported how close he was being around Tyler which could spark even more tension than that fight between the prisoners. Josh was now most likely holding onto his job by a thread that could be cut as soon as the Warden said the words.

Josh went to bed thinking about what could possibly happen tomorrow. The worst would be that he would be fired. The simple thought of that made Josh's stomach jump in fright, meaning he wouldn't be able to see Tyler anymore. They wouldn't let a guard that had been fired for intimacy towards an inmate get anywhere near another prisoner, even if he came in later to the prison for just a civilian visit.

He was getting ahead of himself. Heaton probably just wanted to question Josh and the other guards who helped about how the fight started, or how dangerous the inmates involved might have been. He probably even wanted to see Mark too, since he was the one monitoring the fight caught on camera.

Josh went to sleep reassuring himself like that, though a tiny part of him knew that those thoughts simply weren't the case.

 

♢ ♢ ♢

 

"Dude, where have you been? The Warden's been asking about you for a while. He wants you to get your ass in his office pronto."

That's how Brendon welcomed him the next day. Not with a friendly hello, but a reminder of why Josh went to sleep filled with anxiety the previous night. He had woken up late and was in such a rush to leave the house, he completely forgot to grab his beanie on the way out. However, he had remembered to get his mini flashlight and shove it into his pants pocket.

Now Josh played with his hair, wanting Brendon to notice that it was now a bloody red instead of making himself worry even more. Though when he studied Brendon's now ugly looking bruise on his nose that had spread to the area under his eyes, Josh decided that his hair didn't matter anymore. "I overslept."

"With your head lying in a bowl of Kool Aid?" Brendon snickered, oblivious to how painful it must have been to scrunch up his nose like that. "The color suits you." He then leaned into the guards lockers beside the opened one Josh was currently rummaging through in the desperate need for more space. He had managed to stuff his coat inside, now trying to find a pocket of air to fit his small lunch in.

"Tired of the color?" Brendon asked as Josh continued to struggle.

"What color?" Josh huffed. "There was no color left except for a pink tint. It was time to refresh it."

Brendon bobbed his head slightly side to side, crossing his arms and making a sound of disagreement. "I think you changed it because you got some artistic inspiration yesterday."

Josh didn't respond, but his lips curved up slightly at the corners as he thought of something other than what could happen in the Warden's office later today. Later.

"What are you up to?" Brendon's higher-pitched words purely voiced his thoughts in suspicion.

"Hmm?" Josh hummed like he didn't understand.

"Your planning something, I can tell." The guard pursed his lips.

"You're right." Though Josh knew this plan was the cheapest form of managing to get alone with someone. It wasn't the smartest plan of course, but he didn't want to give thought to the fact that he couldn't talk properly to Tyler (besides the prisoner activities guards oversaw occasionally) for five more years. They had both already told each other how they felt about the person standing on the opposite side of the fence, but any further words were cut short since Tyler felt uneasy about the situation being in clear view and earshot of other inmates and guards. Telling him to go, Josh then ignoring him for more than a week since he was so hurt, and then coming to find Tyler head locked in a criminal's grip maybe wasn't the best outcome of what they had said to each other. "Give me your keys." Josh's voice was unintentionally assertive, slamming the locker door closed after he managed to shove his lunch inside.

Brendon furrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"I'm going to see Tyler before I see Heaton."

The cert guard hesitated, placing a protective hand on the set of keys hooked to his side belt. "Well you don't need keys to see him Josh. They're not fucking glasses."

Josh ignored the smart comeback, knowing Brendon wasn't too keen on giving him the cell block keys. For some reason, only the cert guards were allowed to have them now, along with higher ranking guards who rarely used them since the cell unlocking mechanism was meant to unlock cells as a chain reaction. "Brendon stop fucking around, I need them."

"Give me one good reason why I should give them up." Brendon's face contorted to that smirk of his, but both of them knew they both wanted Josh to go see Tyler.

"I can tell Keegan how you were looking at Awsten's ass yesterday in that art class."

Brendon bit his lip and waited a moment longer, eventually sighing out dramatically. "Alright." Brendon unhooked the keys, dropping them into Josh's opened hand. "But don't lose them, and whatever you're going to do with him, make it short and sweet. I'm already in enough trouble with Awsten saying that Keegan looked hot in those pants yesterday."

Josh chuckled, batting him in the shoulder at the "short and sweet" part. "If Heaton asks again, just tell him I haven't come in to work yet."

"Whatever you say. And hey," Brendon stopped Josh before he turned to leave, gesturing to his head. "Your red hair really does go good with his orange scrubs."

 

Leaving Brendon at what Josh assumed was his form of complimenting, he cautiously made his way down the hallway to the cell block B, careful not to have any guard seeing him on the way over. He just wanted a chance to talk with Tyler alone somehow. It was hard to say how much longer he would be able to keep his job with Tyler always unintentionally attracting and fascinating him with the events of what happened before he came to the prison. All those causes and effects.

He now quietly stopped in front of Tyler's cell, watching the inmate laying on his back, sleeping soundly once again. He liked the features of Tyler's face, including the scar on his nose and cheek, relaxed and eyelids twitching from a dream. That was another thing Josh found so luring about him; those scars each had a story underneath the deformed skin. Even the ones on his wrist.

Josh looked into the cell behind him, making sure that the prisoner there was asleep in his cell too, and returned his gaze on Tyler. "Tyler."

The inmate groaned in response, fingers clutching his chest and murmuring something incoherent.

"Tyler."

"Josh." Tyler mumbled his name, and Josh felt his eyes widen when he saw Tyler shift his hips slightly. It made Josh uncomfortable all of a sudden, but a part of him wanted to see what else Tyler would do while he was trying to sleep.

"Tyler, hey." Josh tapped the bars of the gate. "Wake up!"

Tyler jumped at the racking sound, his arm hitting the wall followed by a short gasp escaping his mouth at the contact. Josh himself winced, curious as of exactly why Tyler frequently woke up so stunned each morning. Josh wouldn't know what was going on behind his skull, but whatever tortures were present in his dreams, they needed to go to someone else's sleep.

Sluggishly hauling himself up to a sitting position on the bed rim, Tyler scrunched up his face and rubbed the spot where his wrist hit the hard concrete wall. "Hey Psycho." It made Tyler look up at Josh like the guard could've come up with something more clever, rather than just a reference to an old movie that would explain why he hated taking showers with criminals who were probably put into prison for the same reason.

"You scared me." Tyler mumbled out as he wiped a hand down his face and yawned.

"Sorry." Josh's voice wasn't really sincere though, still amused by the way Tyler looked so hungover from nothing but a night's dose of unpleasant dreams, swaying slightly since he was still trying to become fully awake.

Pulling Brendon's keys out that he had stored in his pocket, Josh played with them in his hand before he began to swing them on his finger. He was careful though not make them cling harshly so the other inmates wouldn't be aware of them. Tyler had looked back over at the guard standing outside of his cell, his vision clearing and refocusing on his surroundings. A look of realization swept over his face.

"You dyed your hair!" Tyler smiled and straightened himself a bit more.

"You like it?" Josh asked, automatically reaching up to play with a strand of it. He didn't really think playing with the keys would be enough to hint to Tyler what he had planned. Which is going to be stupid, anyway.

The inmate dragged his gaze from Josh's lovely new hair color to the crinkling sides of his eyes and nodded. "I love it."

Out of all the longer responses any person could have said to make the statement more sincere, those simple three words sounded genuine enough for Josh to break out in such wide smile now.

Tyler looked back, but a look of uncertainty soon passed over his face when Josh reached to stick the keys into the cell door, beginning to tamper with the lock.

Tyler sprang up. "Woa woa, Josh! What are you doing?" His hair was disheveled and the orange scrubs twisted the wrong way on his body from laying down.

There was a muffled click of the lock as Josh finally found the right way to turn the key. "You feel like a nice scroll around the prison?"

Maybe he thought Josh was joking, because Tyler scrunched his eyebrows together, though his grin never dissipated or hid his slightly crooked bottom teeth Josh just now noticed. "That's against prison regulations, Joshua." His tone mocked a deeper voice as he rested his hands into his jumpsuit pockets.

Josh chuckled and quietly slid the gate open just a crack, enough for a thin guy like Tyler to step out. "Come on, get up." Josh made a motion with his head.

Tyler didn't move, instead shifting his weight from foot to foot as he longingly eyed the opened cell door. Just a few steps away from confinement. "Where am I going?"

"We." Josh corrected him, stepping aside to let Tyler step out cautiously. "And I'll show you, just come on."

Tyler stalled a moment longer in debate if he should, eventually stepping out completely to stand weakly in front of Josh. Josh guessed that both of their hearts were pounding out of their chests, both being just a few inches away from the other. He felt the urge to leap for Tyler and wrap him in his arms, but he told himself it wasn't a good time at all.

So instead, he turned Tyler around and handcuffed his wrists behind his back. Incase someone came by and saw them, the inmate would look contained like the guard with red hair was transferring him to a new block.

How did a lower ranking guard get a hold of the keys?

Josh brushed aside what others might question.

The two walked in silence for a while until Josh led him to the familiar darker hallways. He realized he hadn't walked down here for a while ever since Brendon scared him on the day the inmates arrived, close to a month ago.

When Tyler started fidgeting from his uneasiness of going first into the shadowy area, Josh decided to uncuff him and the two continued down the hall, now walking side-by-side.

"You're a psychopath Josh." Beside Josh, he could see Tyler shaking his head teasingly. If the halls weren't so dark, it would clearly look like Tyler was still grinning.

"You reminded me before." Josh replied, grin creeping over his face too.

He heard Tyler stifle what might have been a giggle. It made Josh want to do the same, so he bit his tongue.

What felt like just few moments later, a foreign hand grasped onto his, entwining their fingers. Josh's heart nearly stopped when Tyler had brushed up close against his side as they walked. Josh held the thin hand back.

He didn't know if the inmate did that for comfort or something else, but it didn't really matter to Josh, even though Tyler then looked over his shoulder quickly. For someone who had stayed in a prison for nearly a month, Tyler still resembled the characteristics of a paranoid cat, or a rabbit that knew a dog was ready to lurch out at it.

Josh couldn't blame him. The fight had scared him too.

But he couldn't be happier than he was right now, skin touching Tyler's in the cold air.

"Remind me again why we're going down here?" Tyler finally spoke.

Josh swallowed. "You like to sing right?"

"Of course."

"And perform it?"

Tyler stayed quiet for a few moments. "I don't know....I never have before." The inmate casted a glance behind his shoulder again, unintentionally yanking Josh's hand a bit. "I didn't really mean for you to hear that song you first heard me sing."

"It's alright if I did, right?"

Tyler smirked, shrugging.

It went to a comfortable silence, but Josh still wanted to conversate. He wanted to continue to hear Tyler's voice. "I bet you would sing in the showers if the inmates weren't in there with you."

"I already did before I was sent here." Tyler responded lightheartedly, and Josh cherished the moments when Tyler wasn't bound by stress.

The hallways were getting eerily colder and the sound of silence grew stronger in between each of their replies. "You play any instruments?" Josh slowed his pace on purpose.

"Ukulele, piano." Tyler answered. "What about you?"

"The drums."

Tyler glanced at Josh, looking intrigued but some tease was evident on his expression. "Do you drum in the shower?"

"I don't."

"Well you must be doing something in there. It's probably repetitive."

Josh nearly gasped from Tyler's little joke, hardly expecting him to make a subtle reference like that. "Tyler!"

Tyler cackled in response and Josh joined in, holding on to Tyler's hand a bit tighter. "You weirdo." He liked the way Tyler laughed though, like the world needed more of it. "Whether you figure out if you like to perform or not, there's this place I thought you'd like to see. It's pretty cool but, odd also."

Tyler sniffed, regaining himself from laughing. "And how do know about these parts of the prison?" He questioned, jerking against Josh when he skipped over a puddle of dirty water on the ground.

Josh huffed when Tyler's body bumped into his side. "I just do. I liked walking down here just to clear my head, but I haven't in a while though." He did work here anyway; a guard is just prone to figuring out things around the prison.

"Why not?"

Shrugging, Josh repositioned his fingers to hold more securely on to Tyler's. He didn't need to walk down here by himself anymore. He had Tyler. "It's gets dark as hell down here."

"Then turn on a lights or something."

With the hand that wasn't holding the inmate's, Josh felt the flashlight inside his pocket, but he didn't pull it out just yet. "Just wait dude."

Through the darkness that they were somehow managing to walk through, he could sense Tyler shooting him a confused look, but he said nothing more until Josh slowed down even more near an area in the hallway he was familiar with.

"It's spooky down here..." Tyler mumbled beside him,and Josh dissolved into chuckling, tongue poking out from his teeth when the inmate reminded him of his frightfulness again.

"What?" Tyler accidentally squeaked out in defense. "It is."

Josh didn't respond verbally, only slightly swinging their arms as a response. He had remembered once seeing an opened room somewhere around here. A few months prior, he had flicked the beam of his flashlight into the room, oddly enough revealing an old platform in its center. He thought it was so incredibly strange that something like that was just there with no purpose, in a prison for the most part.

Josh tugged on his hand to usher Tyler within the depths of one of the doorways along the brick walks in the hallway; taking out the small flashlight from his pocket. And now, his flashlight found the same place. The light cascaded onto the same platform so Tyler could now see it clearly as he looked over Josh's shoulder in utter curiosity.

"What the heck is that doing there?"

"I have no idea." Josh responded as they stepped completely into the concrete confinement. It was only slightly warmer in here than in the hallways since there was no draft of wind wafting down from the higher levels of the prison. The platform reflected a warmer hue to it when the flashlight beam rested on it, and Josh pulled Tyler along to step him onto the aging wood.

Tyler looked around the room while he now stood a foot taller than Josh. Him standing tall in his orange clothes and the whites of his eyes showing as he looked around in all different directions felt like a good moment for a picture. If only Josh had his....he did!

He reached out to place the small flashlight in Tyler's other hand, who took it blindly and swept the light across the room slowly. With his other hand, Josh pulled put his phone from his back pocket, unlocked it, and quickly took a picture of the inmate. Tyler hadn't noticed, even after Josh struggled to put it back into his pocket with one hand.

Tyler was now looking down at his feet, then the flashlight, then the ceiling that crisscrossed with pipelines. "Give me one of your shoelaces Josh."

"What?" Josh finally got his phone back onto his pocket. "No way, use your own."

"No the guards will get suspicious why I have only one of my laces gone and figure that I'm planning something sinister." Tyler looked at Josh for the first time since they got into the room. "So give me yours."

Josh debated a moment longer before he stepped onto the platform with Tyler and let go of his hand. "Alright." He knelt down and began working at the long laces of his boot. "I'm here though, and I'm not getting suspicious by it."

"Well that's different. You're.....you."

Josh smiled. "I'm me."

"Yeah exactly." Josh felt Tyler's eyes study him as he pulled out the lace from each of the eyelets. "You're Josh.....whatever your last name is." Tyler waved his hand around. "The guard who's puting his job on the line just to sneak an inmate he likes out of his cell and in to a weird old room with a stage in the center."

Josh stopped pulling out his laces to feel his face drain, but then heat up almost as quickly. There were two things in Tyler's little rant that emphasized what exactly happened to be Josh's problems in these past few weeks.

First, he was sure Tyler had no idea about the phone call he got last night or that his job was on the line, maybe a line as thick as a piece of yarn right now. Heck, he came to work today delaying his meet with the Warden. Second, yeah. He likes this inmate with messy brown hair and those old cuts on his nose and cheek that he just decided to sneak out of his cell and into a weird old room with a stage in the center. He wouldn't do that for an inmate he hated....but he would for a person he liked.

"Hey, you alright?" Tyler was looking down at him with concern.

Josh looked at his shoe a moment longer before pulling out the whole lace and stood up again in front of Tyler, urging himself to look so cool. "Dun."

"What?"

"My last name is Dun, if you were actually wondering." Josh twisted the shoelace around his fingers, waiting for what Tyler was going to say.

 

"Josh Dun." A smile appeared on Tyler's face as the name passed through his teeth. "That has a nice ring to it." Tyler awkwardly reached to untangle the string from the guard's fingers who now stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights. But gradually, the pink color tinged his cheeks once again along with the forming of another bright grin of his.

Tyler tried not to stare in amusement at the expression Josh was pulling, as if saying the two syllable name had a nice sound to it was the last thing Josh was expecting him to say. He really liked the name, and he wanted to know what was currently going through the guard's head.

Josh watched Tyler as he began to work and tie the piece of string around the end of the flashlight, reaching up to connect the other end to the nearest pipeline above their heads to where it now hung limply between them. To Tyler, it now looked like a microphone.

"Looks pretty nice, right?" Tyler studied it for himself after he finished tying it, then returned his gaze back on Josh to see what he thought of it. The way the light of it reflected into Josh's widened eyes confirmed that it looked pretty cool.

"So sick." Josh tapped it once with his finger.

"Sick!" Tyler then automatically batted the flashlight, making sure it swung parallel to them so it wouldn't end up hitting Josh and then he'll end up on the list of people that Tyler had hurt unintentionally. He wasn't going to make those mistakes again.

✲

Tyler bit his lip like the lit up "microphone" was urging him to do something. Josh was now gazing at him with a bright smile, which made his heart lift. The blood red hair looked so stunning on him, as if the image Tyler had painted yesterday foreshadowed the future.

Tyler laughed out once for absolutely no reason. He felt his mouth opening as he stepped closer to the light and hold it in his hand, bringing it to the skin of his lips.

I do not know why I would go  
In front of you and hide my soul  
'Cause you're the only one who knows it,  
Yeah you're the only one who knows it

Tyler peeked his eyes open to glance Josh just standing there captivated, and Tyler started to bounce around of his feet.

  
And I will hide behind my pride  
Don't know why I think I could lie  
'Cause there's a screen on my chest  
Yeah there's a screen on my chest

 

  
I'm standing in front of you  
I'm standing in front of you  
I'm trying to be so cool  
Everything together trying to be so cool

  
I'm standing in front of you  
Oh I'm standing in front of you  
I'm trying to be so cool  
Everything together trying to be so cool

 

Tyler trailed off at the last part, a bit embarrassed he just sang that song he had been piecing together while he sat in his cell out loud, in front of Josh. He was too nervous now to risk looking up at him.

 

"That was..." Josh couldn't really search for the right words to say to Tyler, too overwhelmed with how amazing the lyrics sounded as they passed off of Tyler's tongue. "That was lovely."

Tyler's hands suddenly shot up to cover his eyes, trying to hide some tears that had escaped down his cheeks.

Frightened, Josh grabbed onto the inmates forearms, pushing away the flashlight. "Hey hey, dude. It's okay. I loved it."

Tyler sniffed once and released his hands from his eyes, the sleeves of his scrubs damp from the few tears. Josh slid his fingers up to hold onto Tyler's wrist, thumbs pressing into the palm of his cold hands. "You really should perform, Tyler. You're great at it." Josh just hoped Tyler had teared up because he sang his heart out once again, but he hadn't teared up before when he sang in front of Josh in the past. "You have so much more energy now than when you first came here."

Tyler chuckled, blinking away any residue of tears. "Thanks Josh."

Silence settled between them, but this time it was in a way uncomfortable. Josh realized he was still holding on to the inmate's wrist and gently released them. Tyler watched him.

"Josh what are we doing?"

"What?" Josh shifted from foot to foot, finding it hard to what Tyler meant. He had an idea, but he wasn't sure of it.

Tyler let out a breath that warmed Josh's cold nose. "We've been wanting to be alone like this and know we're just playing with a flashlight in the dark; and you're watching me sing."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's just..." Tyler reached up to play with flashlight, avoiding eye contact with Josh.

"Oh!" Josh made himself sound so obvious to what Tyler was actually talking about. "You want me to play the drums while you sing?"

Tyler shot Josh a look, but it evolved into a smile when Josh began to cackle.

"Dude no. I mean that would be awesome, but...." Tyler let go of the flashlight and looked away. "Not just that."

Josh didn't allow himself think twice before he slowly picked up one of Tyler's hands, leaning forward until their noses were less then a centimeter apart. He breathed in Tyler's scent of concrete dust a moment longer and pressed their lips together softly. It was sweet tasting and warm.

Tyler drew in a sharp breath at the contact, and Josh pulled away reluctantly to stare back at him, his eyes were closed and chin tilted up.

"You mean like that?" Josh held tighter onto Tyler's hand.

"Josh..."

"Tyler."

Tyler then reached to pull Josh's head close, fingers grazing his jawline and pressing their foreheads together. Josh grasped Tyler's forearms and brushed their noses, the inmate then pressing their lips together once more.

Josh smiled within the kiss, stepping closer to him, thinking he could both hear the pounding of their chests. The region under is abdomen began to throb and twitch, sliding his hands from Tyler's arms to the back of his neck and pulling him even closer.

When he began to thread his hands through Tyler's hair, Tyler hooked his arms around his shoulders quickly. Josh's hands dropped to his waist as they pulled each other as close as they could while their lips dragged around rhythmically. Both desperately needed the contact from each other after weeks of hiding it, and now they could finally act on it.

Tyler's breath hitched as Josh suddenly grabbed onto the loose fabric of the pockets of his orange scrubs, beginning to grind down hard out of impulse. Tyler welcomed it though. Their movements began to move around more frantically to try to gather up anything that they wanted from one another, both letting out short gasps and moans whenever the other made a quick intimate movement.

They soon had to pull apart reluctantly, panting, but they needed to catch their breaths. Josh looked into Tyler's now flushed face, both breathing in and out deeply.

Tyler opened his eyes, delivering Josh the biggest smile he had ever seen plaster a human's face. The inmate brushed their noses together again as their breathing steadied, still embraced. Josh held onto him more tightly than ever.

"I love you." Josh finally whispered. Though he had said it to Tyler before, this one held so much more meaning than the first time. He understood him more and wanted nothing more than to be around Tyler whenever the other needed him.

Tyler buried his head securely into the crook of the guard's neck, as if for safety. Josh felt him breathing in his scent, which must faintly smell like hair dye still. "I know. I love you too."

Josh's heart skipped once at his words. They swayed a bit as they stood, staying like that for several minutes on end. Neither of them wanted to lose the great feeling of being held by each other. Josh relished the way his fingertips felt as they pressed onto the cloth of Tyler's back and the way their bodies compressed tightly together.

He felt himself beginning to slide his face against Tyler's cheek, slowly dragging his lips along his jawline, then lower beneath his ear. Tyler made a soft sound like he was begging for it, starting to breathe fast again.

"Tyler, is it okay if......?" Josh whispered , but before he gave Tyler a chance to answer, he was already latching his mouth onto Tyler's neck and suckling hard. His hands shot up to cradle Tyler's neck. Tyler jumped and made a sudden panicked whine. Josh snapped out of it and immediately let go of the skin he was biting between his teeth. He looked up at Tyler apologetically.

"Sorry, sorry." He said, wiping away the saliva on the others neck, already seeing a bruise.

"No, no it's okay." Tyler hushed. "I liked it, I just wasn't expecting it." His hands dropped and he grasped onto the hem of Josh's pants and tugged, his fingers were searching for the fabric of Josh's boxers.

Josh smiled and pressed closer, even though it was difficult. Much to Josh's desperate moans for Tyler to grasp onto his hard already, something suddenly thumped against the brick wall on the opposite side of the room, not too far away outside of the doorway.

"Hello! Josh?"

Josh and Tyler's eyes widened when they heard the familiar voice of Brendon's. His footsteps could now be heard a few meters away outside, caring less of how loud he was being.

They froze in their positions when it grew silent again, quieting their breaths.

"You guys in there?"

He must have seen the beam of the flashlight. Just as Josh was about to release his grip from Tyler and flick off the light, Tyler's hands retracted from Josh's pants in a split second and flew out to shove him away harshly. Neither he nor Tyler knew how close he was to the edge of the platform until it was too late, and Josh stumbled off of it clumsily with a huff.

Brendon heard the commotion. "Josh? Is that you?"

Josh groaned in response with how his back and head was aching.Tyler quickly jumped off of the platform to help him and possibly try to drag him to the far corner, but Brendon was already in the room before he had a chance.

"Woa!" Brendon saw how disheveled they looked after he casted the beam of his flashlight into the room, Josh lying on the ground and Tyler standing over him. "Am I interrupting something?"

Tyler grabbed both of Josh's hands to haul him up. "Yes you were Brendon."

"Well sorry." Brendon watched as they composed themselves. "But the Warden just came by the break room and was totally pissed that you "weren't here yet." Brendon air quoted. "You really need to get back up there and go to his office already. He's scaring everybody."

"Why do you need to go to his office?" Tyler asked warily.

Josh brushed himself off and smoothed out his hair, thinking he could still feel Tyler's fingers on his abdomen. "I don't.....exactly know for sure why." He felt the eyes of Tyler and Brendon on him. "The penitentiary called last night and said he requested to see me."

"Well, whatever it is, he's not happy about it." Brendon looked over Josh and Tyler's shoulders to see the hanging flashlight. Quickly, Josh went back to the platform and untied the light and shoelace.

"I've seen Heaton a few times." Tyler uttered beside Brendon. "I wouldn't want to mess with a guy like him."

"Let's go back now then." Brendon suggested as Josh stepped down from the platform and over to them. The cert guard was being unusually calm, but his eyebrows knitted together slightly out of concern. Josh feared for the worst of what could happen, and Tyler sensed it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just recently wrote a one shot joshler fic called 'Numbers Are The Death of Some' if you guys want to check that out.
> 
> Also.
> 
> Only 5 more chapters.


	16. I'm Sorry, Mr. Gullible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Heavydirtysoul video saved my dirty soul.
> 
> I'm back after like two months boi. Just a little tip, Jesse Rutherford, Zachary Abels and Ryan Seaman are the inmates mentioned bc I'm also a fan of the neighbourhood and falling in reverse after top, waterparks and vinyl theatre. ♡
> 
> EDIT: THEY WENT PANTLESS AT THE GRAMMYS I CANNOT EVEN BELIEVE WHAT"S ON TV RIGHT NOW

The dusty taste of concrete was already fading on Josh's lips and cheeks by the time they three of them left the room.

Brendon and him flicked on their flashlights as they walked Tyler back up the hallways, slowing their pace to match the inmate, who reluctantly walked on. Josh had to tug at his arm a few times to get him moving a bit faster, knowing he wasn't looking foward to going back to the dreary cell.

Neither was Josh about going to meet with Heaton about the phone call, so he had his own reason to be also be walking slower than Brendon. Though Josh could just be over paranoid.

Well, that's what he kept convincing himself.

Brendon just looked at him from over the shoulder of Tyler, exchanging his empathy with Josh about what could happen after today. He hadn't listened to the phone call that Josh had received, but he sure saw what Heaton's reaction was like when he found out Josh "wasn't here yet."

Josh looked away, wanting to just be alone with Tyler again with the inmate's fingers continuing to trace along the rim of his boxers, inching further down. He wanted to feel the closeness that had developed between him and Tyler back.

The three of them walked back up the hallways side by side. Tyler was in the middle of them, hands handcuffed since Brendon insisted it would be for the best best if someone else came along and saw them. Though Josh's heart fell when he saw how Tyler had reverted back to looking like such a depressed little inmate again. The inmate had his eyes strongly fixed on the floor as they walked.

 

Tyler just wanted to break the handcuffs that were once again bound to his wrists; to make the material splinter so he could make a dash back down the hallways with Josh's hand fitted into his.

But then Brendon was here.

"So Tyler." Brendon piped up from the other side of the inmate, guessing that the guard wanted to make a small conversation on the walk back. "Where are you from?"

"Why does that matter?" Tyler immediately voiced his own thoughts in harshly before he had a chance to filter it into a nicer tone. Just the nature of Brendon had annoyed him since the beginning. All he wanted right now was to be out of his cell for a short time with the only person he actually liked in the prison, besides Mark when he found out that he worked here, but Mark mostly stayed in the security room.

So that left Josh, who made the stay here more bearable, and in ways made him forget why he was here in the first place. Tyler was still a human that wanted intimacy from other people, and Josh was there to fulfill that and comfort him from his horrid thoughts that had filled his mind before the guard started to come by his cell with that smile of his.

That's why he knew he really did love Josh.

Though now, things reverted had back to the same sense of concealment that Josh and Tyler grew used to, like none of what just happened happened. He silently wondered if Josh had the same urge to do it all again.

Outside of his thoughts, Tyler knew Josh had looked over at him when he responded so bluntly to Brendon. Worry etched his face under his newly dyed blood red hair. It made him look a hundred times prettier, if that was possible.

Brendon, on the other hand, just shrugged. "I'm just trying to get you to talk. I don't want to be the only one speaking and this ending up being a one way conversation."  
  
"He doesn't want to talk, Brendon―" Josh was beginning to insist after a few seconds of silence passed over them.

"Columbus." Tyler answered, which surprised himself when Josh was in the middle of defending him. It surprised the two guards too.

Brendon raised his eyebrows. "No way! Josh is from Columbus too!"

Tyler wanted to laugh when he heard Josh face palm beside him. "Brendon we're literally 10 miles away from the outskirts of Columbus."

"Well sorry! Ohio is a long transfer away from Utah. A different city here is like a different country for me! I don't even remember where the nearest In-n-Out Burger is."

"You've been working here longer than I have! How could you not be used to the cities nearby yet?" Josh continued to exclaim. He elbowed Tyler lightly. "This guy got us lost on the night we were supposed to go to a Christmas party at one of our friends house he's been to hundreds of times because everything was 'so fucking dark.'"

"Cut him some slack Josh." Tyler savored Josh's touch, wanting to join in on their banter to distract himself from being depressed of going back to cell life. "At least he's not an Uber driver."

That earned a shocked scoff from Brendon and over-amused cackle from Josh on either side of him. A huge smile finally broke out on Tyler's face at the sound of his laughing.

The heavy atmosphere was lifting between the three of them, and Tyler liked that.

"What are you teaching this boy, Josh?" Brendon complained in a whiny voice. "So disrespectful."

"He can say whatever he wants to you. It's true, you'd make a horrible Uber or taxi driver." Josh smiled over at Tyler, and the inmate couldn't help let out a giggle when he returned his gaze.

"Man you too, ganging up on poor Brendon." Brendon went on whining.

Tyler just retracted his eyes from Josh again, beginning to knead the inside of his mouth. He didn't want to go back and have Josh leave him, because soon he would be forced into the courtyard again with all the inmates he didn't like.

The three of them quieted down when they reached the corner of the entrance to the cell block, and Tyler stopped almost instantly out of hesitation since he just got a taste of real freedom after several weeks of containment. Josh and Brendon halted too and looked at Tyler.

"Ty come on." Josh murmured, but Tyler didn't really hear him. Thoughts of just running away with the guard suddenly split his mind, so he kept silent while he thought about the fantasies like that that somehow felt more real than the current reality.

Josh tugged the fabric of Tyler's scrubs.

"No dude." Brendon too tugged on Tyler.  
"I'll take him back. I think you should go see Heaton."

Josh shot him a look. "I can do that after I bring Tyler back."

"But it's faster if I take him and you won't piss Heaton off more." Brendon then pulled on Tyler's arm to take him to the cell.

Josh tugged again on Tyler's arm. "It will take less then a minute."

Brendon yanked back on Tyler's arm in response, earning a gasp from the inmate before he steadied himself up again. He caught a glimpse of Josh's now irritated face staring at the other guard, eyes narrowed even more into slits by his lowered eyebrows. He never saw Josh like this, but he quickly decided he liked it.

"Let him go." Josh bit, and even Brendon seemed taken aback at the sudden protectiveness that was now beaming from the guard.

Brendon just looked wide-eyed at him.

"Josh it's okay. He can take me." Tyler urged and Josh's anger instantly melted away from his face at Tyler's rasping voice. It confirmed how different he was now acting from the time they were alone several minute prior.

"Are you sure?" Josh's concerned look seemed to plead Tyler to just let him take him back to his cell instead of the other guard, but Tyler didn't want Josh to get into any more trouble than he already was. Josh knew he was sure, so why would he even make those pleading eyes?

Tyler just nodded.

The guard's shoulders dropped, though Tyler felt his hand on his shoulder as the guard kissed him quickly on his cheek.

"I'll see ya Ty." And with that, Josh reluctantly disappeared down the hallways.

Tyler's heart had leapt, instantly missed the contact from Josh. The ends of the hallways were eerily dark as he felt himself staring down them, like his stare could bring the back a figure from the shadows.

"He'll be fine." Brendon said, then tugging the stiff Tyler down the cell block, unlocking his cell and letting Tyler step inside to look around. The cell seemed even smaller than before.

"Look, I'm sorry about this Tyler." The guard said quietly after he shut the gate.

"Whatever." Tyler mumbled as he dropped onto his bed. He just wanted Brendon to leave him already so he could think about Josh and wait for when he would be let outside again.

"You really seem like a good guy." Brendon continued "I don't think you deserve to be here. You're just like....the black sheep among the rest."

Tyler shifted on his bed at the words that described him as the complete outcast in the prison, even though he had killed his friend and committed arson. That should count as some good reputation to the other inmates. But then again, he was seeing Josh.

"Yeah well, you don't know what I've done."

  
♢ ♢ ♢

 

The afternoon came by slowly when Tyler was finally allowed to eat lunch and then sit himself along the fence line of the courtyard; in a spot that was furthest away from the prison as possible. When he felt nobody was looking, he slipped the top portion of his scrubs off and tie the arms around his waist once again.

He actually liked looking down at himself in a white t-shirt instead of the orange fabric he was so used to now. It felt better to wear it like this anyway since August was getting more hot as the days progressed. It also made him feel like less of a prisoner.

Resting his back against the fence once more, he dug his hand into his pocket to pull out his All My Sons book that he now brought outside so he had an excuse to not socialize with anybody.

After a while when he got to page thirty-one, a line from Keller's son caught his eye, the words 'twenty-one pilots' seemed oddly captivating in a book like this.

He was about to fold the page corner to read again later when something hard hit the side of his head, causing his vision to go blurry. Short flashbacks of his bloody fight with the inmate shot through his mind and sent him into an absolute state of panic.

However, the sound of a ball rolling through the grass told him what he had just been hit by during a prison game, so he relaxed his shoulders because he was safer than he thought.

"Hey arsonist!" Someone yelled to him.

Tyler had already dropped his book to rub his head when he blinked and focused on whatever figure called him that. He didn't like that name.

His eyes met with a lean man several yards away that must have been in his mid twenties, pointing at him. His blond hair was combed back with pomade, and any visible skin of his was tattooed with the aging ink of an artist. "Yeah you! Come ova' here!"

Tyler cautiously stuffed the book back into his pocket as he reluctantly walked over. The man was surrounded by several other creative looking inmates in the small field, ranging from more tattooed felons, to some others with piercings and faded colored hair like Josh, though they didn't look as menacing as the majority of the other brutes that resided at the prison. To be accurate, they just looked like rebellious teenagers who never grew up after they committed their first crime.

"Sorry!" Another voice called from nearby, and a man with stark blue hair like the ocean appeared beside the blond's side holding the ball that had hit Tyler. All of them stared at him with intense curiosity as he slowly reached the group, stopping in front of the one who called him Arsonist.

The blond man was actually smiling. "I'm Rutherford. But everyone calls me Jesse." He introduced himself, but he didn't hold out a hand to Tyler. Instead, he kept his arms crossed. "We need a lightweight to be included in our little game we're playing. Wanna join, Arsy?"

 _Arsy?_ Is that what they were going to fucking call him now? Tyler sighed. "Do I really have a choice?"

Jesse shook his head. "Nope."

"What game is it?" Tyler asked, automatically assuming it was just basketball since the younger guy that apologized to him was holding one.

"Combat soccer." Jesse answered proudly with a raised chin.

Tyler furrowed his eyebrows. "I think you need a soccer ball for that, not a basketball."

" _Prison_ combat soccer." Jesse emphasized the difference. "Using a basketball is more hardcore. Now are you playing? Or do you want Seaman here to throw that book of yours over the fence?"

Tyler glanced at the man with the blue hair and tattered basketball. He placed a hand over his pocket where his book was hidden. "Fine."

"Alright, its against the tattooed and the dyed haired." Jesse explained. "The weakest person on the loosing team gets to be thrown into the basketball nets." Jesse briefly pointed to the hoops before he raced off towards Seaman who instantly threw the ball to another guy several feet away from him.

Tyler didn't have a chance to object the high chance he would be the one to end up in the nets, so he ran toward the heat of the game where the guys were clustered and shouting at the next person with the ball, only taking a few steps before someone knocked that man aside to steal the ball. It reminded Tyler of the bittersweet nostalgic days of playing sports with his brother in the driveway of his childhood home, and for a second, he wished he could go back in time to fix everything that lead him to this moment.

The whole game went faster and more frantic than the basketball games Tyler was used to. Each guy made an effort to chuck the ball to a teammate towards the fence within the maximum three steps before he was butted aside, and the cycle continued.

When Tyler was passed the ball, he felt engulfed by claustrophobia as a horde of guys rushed toward him. He hadn't even taken two steps before Jesse had shot forward to grapple him for the ball, Tyler easily being flung down with a thud on his back.

It went on like this for a while and Tyler thought he would be waking up with some nasty bruises on his arms the following day. Much to his despair, Jesse called the end of the game when Tyler's tattooed team shockingly had the lowest score. He looked around warily.

"That's the game!" Jesse immediately shot him a look with an all-knowing smile. Tyler backed away from the men cautiously as more eyes landed on him as the thinnest inmate.

"Arsy's the lucky one!" Tyler didn't even realize he had backed straight into another man behind him, who grabbed his waist and legs to haul him up. Tyler struggled as the other inmates shouted and clapped with amusement as he was carried to the basketball courts. What a stupid way of humiliating someone, but that's what he got for agreeing to be social with convicts.

He kept struggling desperately until he was carried to the base of the net and felt the hands of other inmates on him. In the next moment, he was being lifted roughly above their heads and just about tossed up into the basketball hoop.

"Hey Zach wait!" A voice called out, and the inmates cheers died down. "Int' that the kid that strangled Margott the other day?"

Tyler was suddenly dropped down in a tangle of arms releasing him, knocking the air out of his lungs as he landed hard on his back. "Fuck yeah it is!" The one named Zach confirmed and he stepped away from Tyler, along with the other inmates who looked on with interest at the person who "strangled Margott".

"Yeah man, the one with the bloody hands!"

"He's also the one who's having sex with one of the prison guards!"

"That's what I'm saying. That's why Margott went after him!"

"The poor guy hasn't been seen since Saturday."

The mixed voices of rumors rose around Tyler, who was now the center of attention. He didn't like it at all. Though he did feel somewhat relieved when he soon saw Jesse and Seaman push through the inmates.

"Woa sorry about that dude." Jesse apologized as he held out a hand to sharply haul Tyler to his feet. "We didn't realize it was you."

"It's..." Tyler was about to say it was fine, but it really wasn't. Did he now have a reputation? "People know me?" He asked cautiously, brushing off his shirt.

"Well yeah!" The man exclaimed. "Most of us had seen you take down Michael on Saturday. No one's seen him since then. _Man_ , all that _blood_. Glad you seem fine though."

"Everyone thinks the rumor of your relationship with one of the guards set him off." Seaman chuckled beside Jesse.

The inmates from the game began to disperse since the fun was over, but Jesse, Seaman, and Zach stayed, looking at Tyler like they were expecting him to say something to defend himself.

"That was his fault if he wanted to pick a fight." Tyler said before he made himself think it through. He still felt the residue of anxiety that blurred his mind since the fight, feeling more hypervigilant than ever. "It wouldn't have solved anything anyway."

Jesse eyed him with furrowed eyebrows, while Seaman opened his mouth to speak. "So...it's true?"

"What is?"

"You're going steady with that one guard?" Jesse asked.

Tyler panicked. "No. I'm not."

Seaman crossed his arms. "You lying?"

"I think he's lying, Ryan."

"Man, he doesn't even trust us to tell us the truth."

"That hurts Tyler." Jesse put his hand to his heart, exaggerating his frown with saddened eyes. "I thought we were all buds. We even gave you your own nickname."

Tyler brushed himself off, shirt now dusty from the ground. "I don't like nicknames. My name is Tyler, not Arsy."

"But in our little gang we need someone as reserved as you to have a nickname." Jesse then looked around briefly before leaning over to Tyler and whisper. "Especially when the thing we're planning is scheduled any day now."

Tyler stared at him. "The thing?"

"You're letting him join?" Zach spoke for the first time, scoffing his frustration that might have been a tactic to get Tyler more interested in joining their clique. "He needs to do the initiation first before we tell him anything more."

"He already assaulted one of the most badass dudes here." Jesse corrected his friend. "He just needs to say yes or no."

Tyler bit his lip, actually intrigued. "What are you planning?"

"Woawoawoa." The man waved his hands out in front of him. "First, are you in or out?"

Tyler didn't think twice. Whatever they were arranging, it was a sign of hope for any inmate. "I'm in."

They shook hands followed by Jesse and Seaman leaning even closer to him. His voice was drastically hushed. "Alright Tyler. First order of business; you need to swear you'll keep this between just us and no one else. We need someone like you included in this game of ours, but we can't have any fucking snitches. If we find out you're a snitch, we'll take you out and just try our plan once again. Got it?"

A pang of uneasiness rushed over Tyler, but he nodded regardless.

Jesse looked around again. "All of us here are taking control or getting out of this place by Thursday night. Depends what we feel like doing that day."

These men were planning to be free from their prison cells by Friday morning by the way he spoke. Tyler stared wide-eyed as he listened to Jesse's explanation of a prison break.

"Every Wednesday, a group of inmates volunteer to have the job to unpack the shipments from the truck that comes each week. Seaman's old friend works for the prison supplier and talked with him during his last civilian visit. He agreed to smuggle us some dynamite into the commissary."

Dynamite. "You're out of your mind." Tyler rasped, no longer convinced they would succeed. "How the heck are you going to use it?"

Jesse quirked his eyebrows. "You'll find out Wednesday, my friend. All you need to do is volunteer to help help unpack the shipments during break after lunch tomorrow afternoon, and you'll be all set."

"Are you..." A thought came to Tyler about Josh and the sudden realization of what if meant for him. In prison breaks, guards would be the first ones taken down and striped of their uniforms by inmates to impersonate them. It was cliched and stupid, but it was a trick they preferred to do. "Are we going to hurt anybody?"

"Of course," Jesse rested his hands on his waist. "If they don't cooperate with us or agree to our demands. Inmates outnumber the staff here 1 to 6, so it would be easy to overrun this place."

Tyler gulped. What would Josh think if he participated in breaking out of the prison? He would be watching Tyler with confused and pleading eyes as inmates attacked, confused of why the inmate wasn't helping the person who had been so nice to him these past weeks. The thought chilled Tyler, but if he refused to participate, inmates would think he was the ineffectual person who was betraying them during a crucial situation. Josh would be fine, Tyler would make sure of that.

"Okay."

"Great. We'll see you around soon." He hit Tyler's shoulder playfully. "And one last thing, if you don't like us calling you Arsy, what do you want your name to be ?"

Tyler thought for a moment about just his real name, or his last name. Being in a new cell, he missed his previous black and white drawings of figures that were always smudged from the messy charcoal he used. He could never draw a clear face whenever he tried to draw himself, so instead his appearance was blurred, like what his life was like before he became so depressed with his mistakes he started to make in recent months. "Blurry."

Jesse nodded. "Welcome to our gang, Blurry." The three of them then turned to leave and merge back in with their fellow inmates around the courtyard. Both Jesse and Seaman were leaning close to each other as if discussing something even more classified between them.

  
♢ ♢ ♢

 

"Hello Mr. Dun."

Josh had taken his time walking to the Warden's office, his heart continuously hitting against his chest as it threatened to kill him by breaking out through his skin. He was supposed to be here hours ago, and Heaton always expected his guards to follow the code of conduct the prison established without veering away from any norm. Since Josh was still able to talk and interact with Tyler the way he did, that's why he started to question how attentive Heaton was about what went on in his prison.

"Good morning sir." Josh walked further into the office to meet the man's gaze respectfully who was sitting low behind his desk. He couldn't really tell if his shaking hands were that noticeable to the man, so he held on to his wrists as an attempt to steady them.

"Please, sit down." Heaton gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk. After Josh took his seat, the warden cleared his throat, which didn't look like he did since his mouth was hidden beneath his trimmed dark red beard. "I'm sure you got the phone call from yesterday."

Josh shifted. "Uh, yes I did."

"What took you so long to get here?"

"I overslept and arrived here late." Was Josh's simple answer.

Heaton didn't look at all convinced. "So, that's the only reason?"

Josh nodded. "Yes, and I'm sorry about that."

The man breathed deeply and leaned back in his chair. The way he was looking at Josh spooked him, like he knew way more than Josh even did. "Well the thing is," He began. "I asked some guards if they'd seen you today, and they said they saw you come around 9:30. I understand that if you overslept. But then when I asked Mr. Urie, he flat out lies to my face saying that you hadn't even arrived yet. So I didn't know what the hell was going on. Maybe you can actually tell me took you so long to get here?"

The room rose in temperature by twenty degrees. "I was..." Josh cleared his throat and felt himself beginning to sweat. "I also decided to patrol the upper levels for a bit."

Heaton stared on. "I wanted to see you as soon as possible, Josh. As in, as soon as you got here to the prison."

"I'm sorry, it wont happen again, sir."

"See that it doesn't." He turned in his chair a bit. "But I didn't request to see you just to talk about how you need a louder alarm clock. Recently, I received some information from the prisoners shortly after the escapade on Saturday in the courtyard between the two inmates. It seems as if you were somehow linked to it."

"Well yeah, between the two inmates? I went to break it up with the other guards and cert team." Josh answered calmly and truthfully, since that was the only way he thought he was linked to it.

"Tyler Joseph and Michael Margott, yes. Can you tell me what happened?"

Josh took a breath. "Brendon and I just went to the security room to check on the surveillance footage and greet Mark. We couldn't have been in there for more than a minute before we noticed a fight on one of the screens. So Brendon and I both rushed to the courtyard along with some other guards to control the situation."

"And that's the only way you think you were involved in it?"

"Yes it is."

"Josh, I want you to be completely honest with me. If there's anything you think I should know, now is the time."

"I just pulled Joseph away from the other inmate, and brought him to the medical ward and wrote down a report. That's it." Josh forced himself not to lash out at how Heaton was prompting him to confess whatever the man wanted to hear.

"Correct. I have your report right here." Heaton pulled out a random paper from the side of his cluttered desk like he was planning to just take it out as proof to what Josh would say. "I just want to confirm what you wrote. Let's see, Joseph claimed Margott was 'verbally provoking him'?"

Josh leaned over to get a better look at the report he had filled out. "Yes."

"Would you happen to know what exactly Margott was saying to him?"

Saturday seemed to have been on fast forward now, and also a bit clustered as the events mushed in to one frame. When he sat next to Tyler after the fight, Josh was too focused on how close they were to each other to ask any details about what exactly Margott was saying to Tyler that had provoked the fight. "I didn't ask him that."

Heaton rested a finger on his temple as he looked down at the paper. "You should have. It would have been important to know the motives and all."

"It's just, the inmate-"

"Margott?"

"Yes....Margott could have been saying any aggravating thing to Ty- Joseph." He immediately corrected himself to not call Tyler by his first name.

"And that lead to Joseph having blood soaked hands?" Heaton pressed and Josh flinched at that. Yeah, that's the other thing that was clustered into one Saturday frame.

"He was defending himself." Josh urged.

"Then Margott must have been saying some pretty aggravating things for that fight to turn so violent. "

Josh swallowed when the scene of how broken Tyler looked after the fight came to his mind, gasping and tired and sad. "He must have." His voice was hoarse.

Heaton noticed this, his curiosity in Josh's experience possibly perking. "And you still don't know what it could have been about?"

Looking down, Josh realized he had been digging his nails into his hands. He didn't know he was, but here Heaton was interrogating him. "How the fuck would I know?" He spat out his thought.

Heaton's eyes ignited into rage. "Don't you dare talk to me like that again, Dun."

The guard shrank back, immediately regretting his outburst since it wasn't helping the situation. "I'm sorry, Mr. Heaton."

As quickly as the Warden's anger had come, his immediate composure replaced it. "Josh....I'm just going to say this to you. Some inmates reported that the fight happened because you and Joseph have a somewhat....intimate relationship that has been going on for a few weeks now. Sound familiar?"

Yes it does. "No, it doesn't."

Heaton's face scrunched up at the obvious lie. "Josh don't act like we don't see your little excursions with him on security cameras."

Josh's face completely drained pale. From what the man just said, by using the term we, people here already knew about his bond with Tyler. They weren't as oblivious as had he thought they'd been.

Fingers tapping on the desk broke Josh out from his trance. Heaton was glaring directly at him. "So what do you have to say to this?"

"It's true." He admitted quietly.

The man's face turned to satisfaction at Josh's confirmation of what he was accused of, but there was still a heavy tension hanging in the air above them. "I should just fire you right now."

Josh's heart leapt almost out of his throat. "I promise it will stop, Mr. Heaton."

"We both know that's an empty promise Josh."

"Sir please―"

"Josh, its for the best." Heaton cut him off. "For the sake of safety, we need our men to follow the protocol here. That fight was an example of how petty relationships between the workers and the inmates can arouse trouble in a place that is dedicated to correct the people that come through that gate in orange scrubs. Do you understand?"

All Josh could do was bow his head.

"I called you up here several days after the fight because I wanted to know Margott's condition before the court officials decided to call Joseph in for another trail."

"Why in the hell is he going to trial again?" Josh's shocked tone was sharp once again. "It was just a courtyard fight."

Heaton's response drove Josh's blood cold. "Margott died yesterday with complications in the medical ward; blood loss, damage to one of his carotid arteries, et cetera."

The world all of a sudden was swaying beneath Josh's feet, and at first he thought he had just woken from a bad dream, but Heaton's stare seemed all too real for it to be fake. The fact was still trying to process in Josh's mind; Tyler killed a second person.

"How on earth does a skinny boy like Joseph managed to dig his fingers into a man's neck and kill him?" Heaton started to rant as Josh remained silent. "Does he sharpen his fingers on concrete walls? Or stick spork spikes into the roots of his nails like claws? I've never seen anything like it."

"What's going to happen to him?" Josh whispered.

"He's not only convicted of being an arsonist, but he's going to court again accused of second degree murder."

"He was defending himself!"

"He killed a man!" Heaton countered. "This whole thing started when you got too connected to an inmate you should have known to stay away from. That goes for every inmate here!"

"That's bullshit." Josh hissed.

"That 'bullshit' runs this place." As soon as the warden saw Josh's shoulders drop in defeat, he continued with a sigh. "I'm not going to fire you, Josh. Each guard is too valuable. Instead, you're being transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution in Elkton. You will no longer be able to see Mr. Tyler Joseph, including by civilian visits, until the end of his new sentence that will be determined tomorrow morning. Start packing up your things. You have until the end of the week. Friday to be exact."

The swarm of words hit him straight on like a brick wall.

Josh didn't care if he was in front of Heaton anymore. He was digging his palms into his eyes to stop the tears from streaming out.

He did a lousy job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> I actually teared up seeing all the nice things about this fic, even on my 'Josh and Tyler's Frenship Montage' video on YouTube in the comments. O.O Thank you all. 
> 
> I'll make these last chapters the best they can be for you. (if you like being nerve wracked heahea) Sorry.


	17. Be Concerned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did ya miss me? It's been four fucking months
> 
> Hea, probably not the only thing I bring you guys is aNgSt.

Everything was fairly quiet after the ordeal yesterday in the courtyard with the inmates he just met, which left Tyler to lay in his cell for the rest of the day despite the mixture of anticipation and nervousness that settled within him.

He had been here for just a month and now he part of a gang of heathens who would stare cockeyed at you if you even faintly acted unusual. The thought about the prison break he just agreed to participate in made his mind spin at all the possible outcomes.

Josh will be fine. Tyler continued to repeat to himself. But still, even when he was on the verge of being at peace with himself and the plan, an image of Josh's mortified look at Tyler's betrayal overpowered his own voice of comfort.

The charcoal dropped from his fingers onto the paper below him, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. The cool morning air made his skin shiver, but he still kept his scrubs tied around his waist even though his body urged him to get warm. Sleep hadn't come easy that night, so he settled on just lying on his bed like a kid, drawing obscure images of ghostly things.

It was Wednesday morning, which had dragged on even more slowly than previous days. He hadn't seen Josh since the morning before, which once again disrupted the routine they had established for an unknown reason. Tyler already missed connecting their lips and the feeling of Josh's tattooed arms hugging his waist.

Josh is fine.

A noise at the cell door made him flinch. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw that there were three men who stood there looking at him. Two were guards, and the third well-dressed man held a ominous looking paper in his aging hands.

"Tyler Joseph?" The man in the suit asked.

Tyler scrambled up from his position on the bed to stand up and stare. Something sinister seemed to radiate from that paper like an enemy waiting in the most obvious place. He gazed at it a moment longer before he finally looked up to nod in response.

"You have been accused of second-degree murder of Kendrick Margott by the state of Ohio. Your hearing with the prison staff has been scheduled today to determine your new sentence and punishment of said prosecution."

Tyler stood there with no reaction longer than he should have. At first he didn't think he heard correctly, but now everything made sense of why the inmate that attacked him hadn't been seen for a few days. He was dead, and it was because of Tyler.

The inmate's mouth parted open, hardly managing a few weak words to come out. "I never got a citation."

The man probably didn't want to risk handing the paper directly to Tyler because there was a probability the inmate was a psychopath, which Tyler wasn't sure of anymore. So instead, the man casually handed it to one of the guards to give it to the inmate through the bars, followed by a "Here it is."

Tyler frowned and snatched it quickly to look it over. Sure enough, it had today's date for the hearing and recorded that the incident happened on July 30th.

"Come with us, sir." One of the guards said, opening the gate up with a pair of handcuffs to welcome Tyler the moment he stepped out.

Tyler hesitated a moment longer before he finally complied and his wrists were bound, the three men leading him to a completely different section of prison, though Tyler didn't pay too much attention to exactly where until the creak of a door opened him up to a new environment.

"Here we go again." He muttered under his breath.

It was a small room that looked like a place for regular meetings for prison staff or minor disciplinary cases, a few people were seated around a cheap long table. They all looked like casual business workers, except for the husky man with a trimmed red beard that was seated closest to him, staring Tyler down.

Tyler dragged his gaze around the boring scene that was so thick with depression that it hung stagnant in the air of past inmates who were sentenced to life in prison, or debates of whether a violent inmate should get the death penalty for repeated offenses.

What he didn't expect to see was the bailiff who stood in the corner to the left of the door Tyler just walked through, hands clasped in front of him. His unusually solemn face was briefly shadowed by a lock of blood red hair that fell out of his black snapback. Behind his shut lips, Tyler could tell he was biting his tongue until it was close to bleeding.

Tyler instantly fidgeted in his handcuffs until one of the guards who directed him into the room yanked him back to keep him from squirming.

His heart rate had quickened twice the speed at the sight of Josh being here looking like something had just died, which meant something definitely wasn't right.

The two other guards seated Tyler in the cheap folding chair in front of the table. The people watched and waited for him to settle down completely since they must have sensed his confusion of seeing Josh here.

"Tyler Robert Joseph?"

Tyler snapped his gaze around from staring at Josh, who was a mere five feet behind him, to meet the eyes of the man who spoke at the table instead. It only dawned on him in that moment that this was the warden he was about to confront. He wasn't in a courtroom this time, no attorney, no disgraced family, which meant he was left alone to fend off the charges accused against him.

"Tyler?" The Warden asked again and Tyler forced his eyes to lock with the man, and not with the guard behind him.

"Yes, sir."

"You have previously been sentenced to five years in prison for arson in your hometown. Is that correct?"

Is that even a question? "Yes, sir."

"And on Sunday you were accused of second degree murder of inmate number B-1578, Michael Margott, who died with complications of severe trauma, blood loss, and carotid artery damage on July 31st, 2016. How do you plead to these charges?"

Tyler swallowed hard and felt himself begin to tremble. It was automatic to slowly drag his eyes over to look at Josh, silently begging for any kind of help in this situation.

The Warden impatiently tapped his desk to summon Tyler's attention. "Don't look at him. Look at me."

Tyler flinched but obeyed his superior. "I was defending myself." He finally rasped.

"Which resulted in the death of another inmate." The Warden pointed out, clearly not believing the act was unintentional.

Tyler could only nod, feeling even more vulnerable than the last time he was in this situation, praying for the judge's mercy on his life.

The Warden studied a few of the papers on his desk, then exchanged glances at his companions that sat with him. "I'm looking at the photos of Margott's autopsy here and....." He paused, drawing a breath. "It doesn't look like just self defense. At a certain point I would expect any man to give up a fight the moment skin was torn in their neck."

A heavy silence stretched on as the people waited for the inmate's response. This man had never wandered around in his own prison with all the inmates, so he wouldn't know when was the right time to give up in a fight. Knowledge in that was something you had to learn through constant experience, with no manual provided that could teach you the basic how-to's. Tyler's heart was hammering while Josh's burning gaze almost made him fall apart on scene as bile began to rise up his throat. He was going to be in this place for the rest of his fucking life.

"Excuse me, sir." Josh's sudden voice from the back caught the men off guard, turning their disturbed eyes on him. Tyler looked over too.

"I don't think you were aware of this, but there is security footage of the fight." Josh paused to breathe. "I'm sure as soon as you see it, you'll agree that Margott was the inmate at fault here."

"Excuse me?" The Warden was looking at Josh with hostility as if he never had a guard mention evidence that could help an inmate.

Josh nodded and the weight suddenly fell from Tyler's shoulders as the pair of guards left to collect the footage from the security room. During the time they were gone, Tyler continued to stare at Josh to silently thank him, but the guard who always found a way to help Tyler kept his gaze to the ground, eyes hidden by the brim of his hat. Only his lips were visible and all Tyler wanted to do was kiss them over and over and never stop thanking Josh.

About ten minutes later, the two men walked back into the room, this time with Mark who held a newly packaged dvd. He looked at Tyler as if he already heard every unspoken word about the incident that wasn't the one about killing an inmate. Behind his skull, Mark knew what wrong with Josh because he too had the same expression as him, but at a lesser intensity.

He listened absently to nothing in particular as the Warden watched the silent black and white footage on a small tv of the fight. Tyler refused to look. He already believed his own story.

It was silent for a few moments after the dvd player creaked and the video was over. The Warden shifted in his seat and murmured something to the other people seated before speaking again.

"Joseph, I'm not sure solitary confinement is going to do much use for you. What we are going to do is call this an involuntary manslaughter, which means you will have far less additional years sentenced than second-degree murder."

Tyler only nodded.

"Five more years, along with some counseling and medication, will be a good start to help you cooperate with the other inmates in the future." And with that, Tyler was ushered to stand up by the guard who led him in. As he did so, he instantly looked over to Mark and Josh in the corner, desperate to meet Josh's eyes and share his relief and gratitude for what the guard did, but his light smile faltered when they locked eyes.

It was only when Tyler was about to exit the door did he notice the tears and a pained expression evident on Josh's twisted face under the rim of his black hat, clearly trying to hide it from the rest of the people in the room. Mark stepped closer to the guard and mouthed something to him, and Josh nodded.

Josh it's not the death penalty. Tyler wished Josh could read his thoughts and be able to comfort the guard for whatever was wrong. Why is he crying?

"Josh...?" Tyler said out loud, but Josh didn't do anything except knit his eyebrows in sadness and worry and regret all mixed together, leaving Tyler in a distressed state once again.

 

♢ ♢ ♢

The heat beating down from the rays of the sun was almost too excruciating to bear. Inmates found cool refuge in the building shadows of the courtyard, sweating as much as they were complaining about it. Tyler forced himself not to give in and strip himself of his shirt like so many other guys had done because an extra layer of clothing somewhat comforted him, even though a respectful reputation rapidly spread within hours of sharing the news with Seaman that his stay here in the prison was lengthened to a decade.

A decade. Ten full years. The ages he should be out with friends and other guys getting drunk, going to concerts, and having the time of his life. All that was caged now, but Josh was his closest taste of those years.

But the prison break tomorrow could change all that.

"See Blurry ova' there?" Tyler heard different voices murmur as he walked by the line of men in the shade on his way to the loading station. "He's the one who killed Michael a few days ago."

"Really? That dude over there?"

"Yeah! It was him."

"Shh. He's looking at us."

Tyler tried to ignore them for the fear of his ego becoming too strong. That wasn't as important as what things were currently going through his head, like Thursday night's prison break, or worrying about what the heck had become of Josh. He couldn't stop thinking about what could possibly be wrong. When he left Josh yesterday with Brendon to go back to his cell, neither of them couldn't have been in a better mood.

"There you are!" A voice hissed from behind several boxes of new shipments once Tyler came close to where the shipment trucks would arrive. He peered around the boxes to see a familiar blond trying his best to look casual while he was still hunched over and looking around cautiously.

"Jesse?"

The blond pointed to a supervisor holding a clipboard standing near the gate, directing Tyler to look in that general direction where inmates were already working on unloading a truck. Tyler noticed behind that man at each new row of fencing there were guards were ready to open each gate for the supply trucks to drive in.

"We're going to check in with that man over there first. I was just waiting for you." Jesse stood up and gestured for Tyler to walk with him. "Then after we unload a few trucks, we watch for one to arrive with the ichthus symbol above the bumper. Do you know what that looks like?"

Tyler nodded, finding that an ironic symbol to indicate a truck that would deliver supplies to help a bunch of sinners break out of a prison.

"Good. Like we said, Seaman's friend is a driver and has been for a long time. We unload, put as much sticks of dynamite in our pockets as we can, and pass them out in the courtyard to others today and tomorrow, excluding the snitches we know about. Then, we stow them away in our cells for the night so everyone has a chance to get one by tomorrow afternoon when we explain everything further. Got that?"

"Yeah, yeah." Tyler tried to process everything he was saying and nodded again that he understood the specific directions. He wondered if anyone who was known to be a snitch would find out the plan sooner or later.

Once they checked in with the supervisor, they spent a while unloading several of the white trucks that came, and Tyler began to think if the designated truck would ever arrive.

His thoughts were answered when he felt Jesse suddenly nudge his arm, casting his gaze to the next truck that came through the gates, a small symbol of a golden fish rested right above the left bumper.

"There's our tickets." The man beside him whispered and soon inmates were around the back of the truck, unloading dozens of white boxes marked 'carrots'. Tyler followed them, quickly casting a glance through the high windshield of the vehicle at the driver, Seaman's "friend" which was probably just a bribed staff member.

He continued to help the others carry the heavy boxes over to a more shaded region at the side of the building. There was so many now, some mixing with the other supply boxes, that Tyler had lost count of how many they had unpacked.

Jesse and Seaman were beside him now, along with several others whom Tyler guessed were part of the gang, recognizing a few of them from the game yesterday. They made sure they were all hidden from the eyes of the guards, clustering around the packages as casually as they could.

He felt himself flinch though when he saw one of the men pull out a shank from his pocket and begin to slice the packaging of the boxes like it was a thin layer of skin. Tyler's hands automatically went to touch the own skin of his neck, only realizing then that both the fingernail dents and the bruise Josh gave as a gift yesterday was still there. No one had said anything about it though.

The dynamite sticks were passed around quickly and some inmates were even close to gasping at the sight of them. They all scrambled to make sure they grabbed three to four each to stuff into their pockets, a few guys making derogatory jokes about it to each other. For himself, Tyler decided to just take two knowing that he couldn't fit in much more since he still carried the book with him.

The group soon dispersed with curt nods to each other and made their way back into the courtyard to mingle with their friends. Out of the corner of his eye, Tyler saw some of them extracting a stick of dynamite to discreetly pass into other inmate's hands while keeping their shoulders compressed together.

 

Instead of joining them, Tyler rushed over to fence line bordering the walkway for staff members, deciding it was best to keep a low profile with the other inmates until the following day. He got what he needed for the escape, and he needed to find Josh to talk with him at least before tomorrow afternoon and somehow convince the guard to stay home for the rest of the day. It was going to be a hellhole Friday morning, so he wanted Josh as far away from the prison as he could be until Tyler found his way out during the mass riot and possibly meet up with the guard somewhere safe.

That, Tyler concluded, is how Josh will be fine.

He stopped himself several feet away from the fence when he saw who he was looking for. The guard was leaning against the wall in the shade, dragging his gaze around to keep alert of the activity happening in the courtyard. Tyler chewed his own lip while he rested his hands in his pockets, waiting for Josh to notice him.

Eventually, they caught each other's eyes and a weak smile faltered on Josh's lips at the sight of Tyler, as if for a second he thought the gesture was not appropriate to greet the inmate anymore. Despite this, the guard still walked over to the fence a few feet away to greet him. Tyler did the same, though he came a few inches closer.

Even several feet away, he could depict every detail of Josh's features, from his darker brown eyes, to his nose ring and wavy dyed hair poking through his snapback that was once again back to its backwards position. There were bags under those eyes from being sleep deprived, which reminded Tyler of his first few days in the prison when all he wanted to do was hurt himself. Seeing the guard in his state was so foreign Tyler knew he needed to be worried about it. "Josh?"

Josh shifted his feet as he tried to strengthen that smile of his. "Hi Tyler."

"Are you feeling okay?"

The question obviously caught Josh off guard. "Yeah, why?"

It was clear he was lying, but Tyler decided to not speak out against it. His eyes revealed an array of emotions so torn and tired that you would sympathize any person who had them. "Because it looks like you didn't sleep at all last night, dude."

"I'm fine." The guard rubbed his eyes while he kept a hand on his baton stick handle Tyler forgot he even had. "I'm just......just tired."

"Yeah. I can tell." Tyler took a step closer to the fence, hands clasping tightly onto the wire as he leaned closer to compress his face in between his arms to gaze at Josh more intently. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

Josh scratched his elbow, warily looking over Tyler's shoulder for a second. "I had a headache." Another obvious lie dripped out, but Tyler held his tongue again.

Josh looked at him with regret like he knew Tyler was sensing he wasn't saying enough, so he changed the subject in effort to soothe whatever things were left unsaid. "So did Brendon say anything to you after I left?"

Tyler dropped his concern, scoffing and smiling at Josh's attempt to awkwardly change the subject. He leaned a little closer into the fence as Josh watched his movements intently. "No, except he basically called me an outcast."

Suddenly, Brendon's safely seemed like something to be concerned about now too, along with Mark, Keegan, and that other guy who always seemed to be with Keegan. Basically any staff member who wasn't an asshole. "Does he work on Thursdays?" Tyler tried to keep his voice calm so Josh wouldn't get an idea that something was up.

"Yeah he does." Josh looked down at his feet as he kicked over a pebble under the fence to Tyler's side. "But why does that matter? You have me."

"Well, in case he tries to cockblock us again." Tyler let a smile creep on his face and he kicked the pebble back over.

He knew Josh had developed that all-knowing crinkly eyed grin of his. "Tyler, just being around him a few minutes is somehow too long for you. You're beginning to sound like him."

"You're the one that cusses, dipcrap."

"See Tyler, that just sounds so wrong coming from you."

Tyler cackled, knowing his eyes must have gone into slits just like Josh's. "It sounds so right coming from you though."

When Josh took a chance to step closer to the fence, Tyler felt his breathing touch his ear, earning a shiver to pass through him. His eyes were beaming into Tyler with amusement and urge for him to continue."You're being real suggestive today."

The inmate smirked, relieved to see Josh looking more at ease and at higher spirits than he had been earlier. He could go on for hours like this with Josh despite the beating heat that would cause him to get a sunburn eventually. "Maybe that’s why I'm locked up for ten years now."

Even though it was meant to be a joke, Josh's smile faltered and the same concerned look returned. A few moments of silence stretched on except for the voices of the inmates heard in the background, until the guard decided to speak. "How are you taking it?"

"Taking what?"

"The....new sentence." Josh said slowly.

Tyler blinked.

If Josh had asked him that the first week, Tyler would have been tearing his skin even more and smearing it across the brick walls of his cell out of protest and screaming in response. But now, with Josh's reassuring presence, five years or ten years didn't seem that long, though he had the knowledge that none of the inmates would be here on Friday morning, making their current sentences absolutely worthless. Even the ones in solitary confinement would find a way out in the midst of the breakout.

It would all be different for the better soon.

"I guess I'm fine with it."

Josh's eyebrows immediately furrowed with his mouth slightly gaping. "You're fine with it?"

"Well," Tyler withdrew his face from the fence. "I think I deserve it, Josh."

"Just a few weeks ago you hated this place and wanted to escape, now you don't care about getting out or not?"

Josh was suddenly growing distressed, which was spooking Tyler enough to let his hands fall from the fence. He couldn't tell Josh yet no matter how much he felt like he needed to. "No I do, it's just I didn't know that I injured that guy so much it would kill him. He deserved what happened to him in the end, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't pay the price too." The reality of it just now seemed to hit him over his skull. "I killed a second person, Josh, and burned down my neighbor's houses." Swallowing hard, he croaked, "I deserve to be here."

"Tyler." Josh's voice cracked. "I told you before you didn't mean to do those things. They were all freak accidents that happened." When Tyler remained silent, he kept going. "No, you don't deserve to be here. I want you out of this place with me so you don't have to waste the rest of your life here."

"Well I can't do anything about it now, Josh!" Tyler didn't mean to snap like that, but he could tell they were both troubled in their own ways. The reason Josh was upset couldn't be because Tyler had a longer sentence. Just yesterday they were kissing and feeling each other's bodies, so it didn't make sense why he was being like this now, an absolute polar opposite of the cheerful guard who brought him charcoal and paper and took away any sharp objects out of his cell for Tyler's own safety from himself. "Josh tell me what's wrong."

"What?"

"I want you to tell me what's wrong." Tyler pressed.

"I told you I'm okay. Nothing's wrong."

"I saw you back there, Josh, you were crying." Tyler stressed. "What's wrong?"

Josh steadied his eyes with him, squinting against the sunlight. "I could ask the same to you."

"Why have you been crying?"

"How are you not crying?" The guard exclaimed, making Tyler recoil away from the fence even more with widened and startled eyes. "You're spending ten years in prison now! How could you not be upset?"

Tyler's heart began to pound. "Well it won't affect you."

"What do you mean it won't affect me!?" Josh burst out, making Tyler flinch and attracting looks from inmates nearby.

"Josh calm down." Tyler muttered, feeling their eyes burn into the back at his head.

"It already has effected me! Your problems are mine now! They're linked!" Josh was making wild hand gestures at every word, eyes pleading for Tyler to do something or say anything in return. The guard was breathing heavily and the heat was only making things worse.

Tyler just stared back in utter bewilderment at the course Josh's attitude had taken. He had a sudden desperate longing for things to go back to the way they were before, to erase all these new problems that had developed. "This isn't like you."

"Well then you don't know everything about me." Josh spit out so harshly that Tyler flinched as his heart jumped. "You don't know what breaks me down because you decide that things are fine when they're not. You have no idea what just happened yesterday which is the whole reason why I'm acting like this now. It's because I was fucking fired and now I'm worried about you and everything else happening in this hell people like to call a correctional facility!"

Tyler watched his emotions unfold right before his eyes; anger and sadness and anything else atypical. He stood motionless in shock after everything the guard just said that erased all the things Tyler was going to yell back at him for acting like a child. He contemplated if he even heard him correctly, but he knew they both were expecting this to happen eventually.

"I can't even visit you as a civilian." Josh murmured now, the anger dripping away as fast he had previously scolded Tyler to be replaced by complete misery for yelling at him.

The guard shook his head and was about to turn and leave when Tyler somehow managed to snatch out his hand through the fencing quick enough to frantically latch onto the Josh's sleeve, revealing more of his mesmeric tattoos. "Josh! Please don't leave me."

"Leave me alone." Tears stained the other's face as he attempted to pull his arm back. "Tyler please, I just want to be alone right now."

"Don't." Tyler only held on tighter in desperation to all he had left and needed so badly. "Don't go yet! I'll be alone soon too, but at least the other people you'll see won't be a crowd of heathens you can't escape from."

"Let go, Tyler."

Tyler did, which almost tore his heart right in half. Josh looked like he didn't have the strength to even come by his cell later day, or work tomorrow on his last day, which was good because Tyler couldn't have him do that. Even for Josh's safety, Tyler needed to say this to be sure he wasn't here tomorrow, though it pained him so much to say, "Don't bother coming tomorrow."

That did it. Josh's face flashed with anguish so heartbreaking Tyler felt himself internally breaking down as their connection between an inmate and a guard after all these weeks was dissolving right before his eyes.

"Well maybe I shouldn't." That was all Josh said before he turned to abandon Tyler with no last glance over his shoulder. He wanted to burst out in tears right then and there.

"For the love of God don't come tomorrow." Tyler whispered, but it was inaudible to Josh as he disappeared back into the prison.

 

♢ ♢ ♢

Tyler paced around in his cell, beginning to bite his nails as the walls suddenly felt too small around him. He had hidden his stick of dynamite under the flat pillow on his bed, his newly hung drawings now seemed all too real and haunting.

Josh had most likely gone home for the night and probably was debating whether he should actually come tomorrow after their argument. He was desperate to apologize to him even though Josh was the one who snapped, but the last thing he wanted right now is to have Josh mad at him right before the catastrophe that was going to occur in exactly one day. That's why it surprised him to hear footsteps coming down the cell block.

Before even looking to make sure it was the guard, Tyler shot his arm out of the cell bars to grab the wrist of the person and yank his whole arm into the cell.

In the darkness, he heard the person grunt. It definitely wasn't Josh and Tyler's heart sank at the voice.

"Ah! Fuck you Tyler! What the heck?"

He let go of Brendon's wrist and the guard dragged his arm out spitefully. "If you wanted some from me you should have asked Josh if it was alright first."

"Where is he anyway?"

"He went home early." Brendon readjusted his belt. "He's not in the best spirits right now. He tell you what happened?"

"Yeah he did, but it was mixed in with other things he yelled about." Tyler made sure he kept his voice low with his face pressed close to the door. "I mean look at me. I'm in a concrete six by eight with a uncovered toilet."

"Tyler he was fired. Do you know what that means for both of you?"

"It means he can't—," Tyler thought for a moment about what Josh said, trying not to let himself hint that the prison break could change all of this, and he and Josh could finally be out of the watchful eyes of others. "He can't work here anymore, or visit me."

Brendon looked him over for for a moment before he nodded slowly. "That's right, so take it easy on him, Tyler. We all have our internal problems. The severeness just differs between everybody, but they're still considered problems." Brendon now talked like the deepest thinker in the prison despite all the risqué things he hinted constantly but jokingly about Josh and Tyler.

Tyler frowned at his feet, forcing himself to accept why Josh caved in like he did by looking through the guard's own eyes.

After all these weeks, Josh did everything he could to make Tyler's stay here bearable by talking to him like a civilian and even sneaking him out of his cell. He risked his job just to make Tyler happy, and what seemed like a long story coming to an end, he did end up losing it. "What is he supposed to do now?"

"Nothing." Brendon's voice was steady. "There's nothing more you guys can do now, I'm sorry."

"You can't do anything?"

"What makes you think I can do something? You guys have had the strongest connection between a guard and a prisoner I've ever seen, but it's all coming to an end."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is, Tyler. You know that."

But Brendon didn't know what Tyler knew. He didn't know what was going on tomorrow and neither did Josh. This was just a complication of who knew what and who didn't know what the hell was going on in this prison. Some knew more than others, while others stood idly in the corners of their cells or paced the safe side of the fence line, waiting for the day to end when even more things would be unknown, so uncertain about the future as they dismissed the past as quickly as it arrived. Things were about to change, it was just hard to decide whether it was for the best or for the worst.

Tyler's throat began to tighten with the threat of tears to push out from his eyelids. Josh just went through something they all dreaded would happen since the beginning. The fact he lost a career he had for years and a person he was close to in the exact same day was sure to break even the strongest. Tyler, himself, lost a friend and his free life in a single day. He was the equivalent of Josh in different clothing, which made the ache to be at Josh's side and make his life worth living so much more intense.

But in retrospect, he had gained more than one thing while he was here.

When he lifted his head up, he was just able to snatch Brendon's wrist again before the guard turned to leave. The inmate kept his voice nearly incoherently hushed. "Brendon, whatever you do, don't come tomorrow."

Brendon stared him down with his mouth parting in confusion at the ominous warning. "Why?"

"Just—" Tyler caught himself before he spilled out almost everything he knew. "...please talk to Josh for me. I think you both need a break from here for a day, and me. He's stressed. We're all stressed."

"...okay." Brendon looked even more unsure, even a little spooked at Tyler's advice. "I'll tell him."

Tyler let him go and the guard was soon out of sight from the cell block, leaving him standing alone once again in the darkness. He grasped the cell bars tightly in his hands and glanced over his shoulder, the stick of dynamite mocked him cruelly from underneath his pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate comments at this time :) It's just getting so hard to keep writing this, each chap seems to be getting longer

**Author's Note:**

> Be sure to subscribe if you enjoyed this,  
> and future chapters will be uploaded as soon as I finish.


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